For the full growth and development of fruit trees, it is not enough just to choose a suitable site in your garden, it is also important to protect them from attacks of pests that appear on plants with enviable regularity.
Among other uninvited guests it is worth highlighting a leaf-maker, timely and comprehensive struggle with which will help preserve the harvest. Let's find out what harm this insect does, consider the most well-known ways to get rid of it.
How does it look
"You need to know the enemy by sight", and these are not just words, because in order to figure out how to better deal with pests, you need to understand what you are facing. Butterfly Moth presented in the form of a moth or an ordinary moth, whose wingspan reaches 2.5 cm. The body of such insects is densely covered with hairs, and the wings are folded horizontally on the back.
In the same time young individuals (caterpillars) practically naked, and their yellowish or greenish body reaches a length of 1-2 cm. In young animals there are 16 legs, a brown or black head. On the abdomen of the caterpillar of the leafworm there is a belt with hooks that damage the plant.
In most cases, the larvae live alone on the plant, but some representatives (for example, a flat rosaceous moth) can create a kind of mini-colonies of 5-10 larvae per one nest.
Today, experts identify about 50 species of these pests, but in the entire numerous family it is worthwhile to isolate only two - moths specializing in shrubs and garden trees and shoots - insects devouring buds and shoots of conifers.
The remaining pests devour almost all parts of the plant, in particular, and the roots. Fighting the leafworm should not be put on the back burner, since this pest is a serious threat to fruit trees and shrubs, feeding on their leaves and depriving the plant of useful substances. In the habitat of the moth you find leaflets twisted and cobbled together by webbing, and if you unfold them you can easily detect the insect itself.
What harm in the garden
It is difficult not to notice a tree that has been attacked by a specified pest. However, leaves entangled in cobwebs are most often not visible to this, but rather to their incorrectly folded form, due to which the pests were called the “leafworm”.
Important! Choosing a place of settlement, the leafworms prefer healthy or slightly weakened trees, so if most of them are already infected, but some instances stand out favorably against their background, you should think about the presence of other problems with them.With the arrival of spring and the appearance of inflorescences, young caterpillars literally burrow into the buds and buds, and then they are woven over with cobwebs. Then comes the turn of the young leaves, and if there are too many pests on the tree, the fruits will suffer over time.
Butterfly activity is observed from the end of May to the beginning of autumn, although some species of moths can fly over the trees in October or even in November.
Leafworms are common in almost every region, although they do the most damage in southern gardens. With the mass invasion of pests, the number of damaged fruits and buds often reaches 70-80%, while about 50-60% of leaves are affected.
Risk group
Among the fruit trees growing in your garden, apple trees, pears, plums, cherries and some shrubs (for example, currants or raspberries) will suffer first and foremost. The cotoneaster, bird cherry tree, hawthorn, hazelnut and mountain ash are also at risk, although these plants are much less common in cultivated gardens. Among the wild-growing trees, willow, ash, poplar, maple, birch, aspen, linden, oak and some other plants are the most susceptible to lizard attacks.
Did you know? The ancient Greeks used pears during their voyages, because the resorption of pieces of these juicy fruits saved them from motion sickness and reduced the manifestation of motion sickness.
How to fight
If you find a moth on your apple, pear or any other inhabitant of the garden, it's time to think about the actual measures to combat it. There are several basic methods, among which banal prevention is far from the last. Consider each of them in turn. 
Preventive methods
The main prevention of damage to your garden with a leaflet is to comply with the agrotechnology of growing all plants. It is very important to timely watering, weeding, pruning, feeding trees and shrubs, with a periodic inspection of each of them. In no case should the crown be thickened, an excess of moisture in the soil and excessive growth of weeds in the tree trunks, which attract harmful insects.
In addition, prophylactic methods also include:
- Complete removal of clutches from the trunks of trees and branches, at the same time cutting off thin layers of the bark of the plant.
- Timely (immediately after detection) elimination of folded leaves, many of which have larvae hiding.
- Cleaning the bark at the beginning of the season with the removal of dead fragments and covering the boles with a solution of lime milk with the addition of a chalk mixture with 2% Karbofos and copper sulfate.
- The use of chemicals in the spring (before bud break). For these purposes, “Prophylactin” is well suited (the working solution is prepared at the rate of 0.5 l of composition per 10 l of water, and the liquid consumption is 2-5 l per adult tree or 1.5 l per bush), “Decis” or “ Kinmiks "(working solution is prepared in accordance with the instructions). These drugs are used for the next two treatments: before flowering or after it.
Important! The first preventive treatment of trees must be carried out before the start of sap flow and at an ambient temperature not lower than + 10ºC, otherwise the larvae will hide under the bark and the chosen preparation will simply not reach them.
- Daily collection of fallen leaves and fruits from under the trees, especially if they are already damaged by the moth.
- Try to protect your plants from mechanical damage and frost.
Mechanical methods
Mechanical means to protect your plantings from leafworms and other pests provide for the complete destruction of the caterpillars and the creation of obstacles to their entry into the garden. In particular, such methods should be attributed shaking off insects from trees, cutting and burning folded leaves, and installing special traps (belts), which are able to either simply collect, or also destroy the leafworm that fell into them. Such devices do not pollute the environment and are completely safe for both people and pets. 
Biological methods
Speaking of biological methods of control, it is intended to bring tree pests, in particular, the leaf-moth, into the garden of natural enemies. In the role of such an army of salvation, usually birds, among which are particularly distinguished titmouses. They do an excellent job with both caterpillars and moths on butterflies on apple, pear or other fruit trees, so you no longer have to think about how to process them. To attract these little helpers to the site and keep them in your garden, simply hang troughs on the trees, putting unsalted pieces of bacon or seeds in them. Having left such a delicacy for the winter, with the arrival of spring, you will find many titmouses in your garden.
Alternatively, you can use biologically active drugs, for example, Dendrobatsillin, Bitoxibacillin or Lepidotsid. Given that the pest will not be able to get rid of at one time, the processing is carried out in several stages, maintaining an interval of 7-10 days.
Chemicals
No matter how gardeners praised the above described methods of dealing with a moth, the most effective way to solve the problem was and still is the use of chemicals to destroy caterpillars and adult butterflies. However, many pests quickly get used to toxic compounds and constantly using the same drug, you will soon cease to notice its positive effect. Therefore, after two or three times the use of one composition, it is desirable to purchase another. 
Also, do not forget about the toxic properties of any chemicals that, falling on the fruit, very soon will be in your body. It is this fact that forces many summer residents to look for alternative methods of dealing with the leafworm. It is rational to resort to the use of chemical compounds only when the number of pests reaches a critical point, for example, five or more caterpillars are found on the leaves of one branch.
All existing insecticides (toxic compounds used for processing plants) are divided into contact and systemic ones, and despite the fact that the latter are considered more toxic, they do not always give a positive result. Systemic insecticides relieve trees from a moth much more effectively, but their cost is higher.
There are a lot of troubles in the garden from ants, moles, scoops, May beetles, wasps, Tsikadki, whitefly, centipedes, bark beetle, weevil, spider mites, mice, aphids, shrews, wireworms, earwigs, ground beetles, slugs, dears.With little damage to plantations, you can use the drug "Alatar", the working solution of which is prepared by dissolving 3-5 ml of the product in 10 l of water, the insecticide Fufanon or Karbofos (in both cases, 10 ml of the drug is dissolved in 10 l of water, doubling the dosage if necessary), as well as the drug "Dursban" (for 10 liters of water you need only 10-20 ml).
Other insecticides of a wide spectrum of activity have also proven themselves well: “Landing”, “Atom”, “Binom”, “Ditox”, “Actillic”, which are also diluted in water at the rate of 10 ml per 10 l. 
Folk remedies
If during the inspection of trees in the garden only a few listworms were noticed, and the bulk of the leaves are not folded into a tube, you can cope with the pest without chemical preparations. In this case folk recipes will come to the aid of the grower, the most popular of which is considered to be an infusion of tobacco or tomato toppers, as well as a decoction of potato tops or wormwood.
Did you know? When fighting with a leafworm, even fermented jam, dried fruit compote or bread kvass are often used to fill 1/3 liter jars with them and hang them at night at a height of 1.5 m. In the morning, traps with catches must be removed to get rid of useful insects.To prepare a decoction of wormwood You will need half a bucket of finely chopped fresh grass or 700-800 g of dried plant, which you need to fill with a bucket of water and leave to infuse for two days. After this time, the infusion should be boiled, cooled, filtered and add water until the solution reaches a volume of 10 liters. Before direct spraying, the resulting product is again diluted with water (in half).
Cooking infusion of potato tops - even more simple task. For 4 kg of freshly chopped tops (or for 2 kg of dry raw material) you need to take 10 liters of warm water, pour all over and wait 3-4 hours. After the agent is infused, it is filtered and another 40 g of soap is introduced into the infusion. 
Tobacco Infusion Prepare according to the following recipe: 500 g of tobacco or tobacco dust should be poured with 10 liters of hot water, and as soon as the composition is infused for two days, it is filtered through gauze and gently squeezed. The resulting infusion is diluted with double the amount of water and divided into parts of 10 liters. To each part add 50 g of rubbed or liquid soap and immediately treat the trees.
Important! The finished infusion is toxic, so before treating the plants it is very important to close all exposed areas of the body, and after it thoroughly wash your hands, neck and face with soap and water.For cooking broth from the green part of the tomatoes, 4 kg of chopped fresh tops and roots pour 10 liters of water and leave to infuse for 3-4 hours. After the specified time, the finished infusion is placed on a small fire and boil for another 30 minutes. The cooled broth must be drained and squeezed out the remnants of the roots and tops. Such a tool can be stored in the basement for about a year, if, of course, used for bottling will be completely closed. Before direct application, the composition is simply diluted with a similar amount of water and for every 10 liters, 40 g of soap is additionally introduced.
All these recipes are capable of showing fairly good results in the fight against the caterpillars of the moth, but only if they are processed before the onset of the appearance of flowers or immediately after it.
In any case, the prevention of diseases is always better than their treatment, so at the first signs of the presence of pests on your trees, try to remove the affected areas as soon as possible to prevent the insects from settling.
