Spruce pests: what are there
To create a unique landscape design, gardeners often resort to planting special plants. Conifers are among the most widespread and popular. But, unfortunately, it must be emphasized that various pests and insects often infringe on their magnificent appearance and properties. Many of them are not visible to the human head, and as a result, without knowing the main reason, the gardener can observe how the plant gradually fades away, losing its decorative properties. There are also such spruce pests, the reproduction and distribution of which can completely lead to the death of a coniferous plant.
What pests are there?
Spruce pests: photos of insects
To begin with, we will list several types of pests that deal the biggest blow to modern conifers:
- sucking;
- pine needles;
- stem.
Each of these spruce pests has its own characteristics, by which it is possible to determine which insect or parasite attacked the plant, and what methods must be used in order to get rid of the parasite even before it destroys the plant or causes irreparable harm to it. This article is just devoted to a more detailed consideration and analysis of them.
Spruce pests: insect photos
Spruce sucking insect pests are among the most common. They actually choose spruce plants as their main habitat, since spruce plants contain a large amount of sap and nutrients, thanks to which parasites develop, multiply and adapt to constantly changing conditions. Sucking parasites today include aphids and spider mites, as well as coccids and hermes. Most often, they infect the plant not one by one, but in whole colonies: this way it is easier for them to survive and reproduce. Most often this happens almost imperceptibly for the gardener, so at first he does not know at all about the danger that threatens his plant. First, spruce pests settle in the green part, and then suck out all the nutrients and components from the main parts of the plant.
The main parts are:
- trunk;
- needles;
- young shoots;
- secular branches;
- root system
As a rule, from the side of these pests it is very difficult to see with the naked eye, but their presence is quite easy to determine if the gardener noticed some atypical feces that appear right on the needles. Often, the result of the activity of pests is gradually forming formations, which from the outside very much resemble small bumps. Having noticed them, the gardener can immediately assume that something is wrong with the plant, and that it should be studied in more detail for the life of the sucking parasites:
- Aphid - that it is present on spruce, indicates that yellowish spots are gradually identified on the plant itself. They indicate that the plant is affected not just by one pest, but by its entire colonies, which, moreover, reproduce very actively, since they find ideal conditions for themselves. An adult insect is only two millimeters in size, so a fairly simple test can be done to find out if the plant is actually infected by aphids. A sheet of white paper is placed next to the affected part of the plant, after it is easy to knock on the branch, you can see how the aphid crumbles onto the leaf.
If we talk about ways to combat the pest of aphids, then here one of the most popular and traditional methods is processing wood with soapy water.In this case, the roots of the plant should be protected from the ingress of chemicals, since they are very sensitive to this, they can get sick from such exposure, and this is an extremely undesirable effect. Since aphids are the result of the appearance of red ants on the site, their colonies also need to be more carefully monitored and identified, if suddenly you do not want to have two dangerous harmful parasites on the site at once.
Spruce pests: insect photos
- Needle-eater - if the gardener noticed that a cobweb is forming on the spruce, then this just indicates that the spruce was affected by this pest. The larvae of the needle-eating leafworm mine the base of the needles, and therefore, in a strong gust of wind, they can very easily come off, thereby exposing the shoots. Finding a pest is difficult enough if you just look at the plant. Therefore, you should touch the affected spruce branches in order to understand that there are pests on it that need to be destroyed.
- Spider mite Is another pest that I would like to mention. If young seedlings do not receive proper and necessary care from the gardener, then spider mites gradually begin to infect them. As a result, we notice that the needles of the spruce tree begin to slowly become covered with yellow spots, and then the needles completely lose their vitality: they become brown and crumble. As a rule, parasites can cause particular harm to those plants that grow in the arid regions of our country, and it is very important to know all the methods that will allow you to fight the spider mite in order to save the plant and extend its life span.
As a rule, a spider mite is an oval-shaped pest with four pairs of legs. The color of the spider mite is gray-green. In general, it has a small size - about 0.4 millimeters. Tick eggs tolerate winter very well, so they live very actively on old plant shoots, they are practically not afraid of sudden temperature changes or frosts, which usually negatively affect pests and their populations. But even despite this resistance, you can still get rid of the spider mite thanks to some chemicals. Among them Fitoverm, Agravertin, Neoron should be highlighted. These preparations are suitable for the budget gardener who still wants a positive result. Also, these substances can kill adults, which are usually quite tenacious in such conditions. The larvae and clutches of eggs are exposed to chemicals, which is why these tools are so effective and useful, and therefore they become necessary when it comes to controlling spruce pests. But it must also be borne in mind that each subspecies of pests may require a special approach to itself, and this also applies to the ways in which the spruce pests are controlled.
- False shield - another spruce pest, a sign of the appearance of which is how rapidly the needles change their color. At first, barely noticeable shiny media appear on them, then they slowly acquire a brown tint. In the end, the needles simply fall off, and this can happen over a period of time. The female pest of the false shield, as well as her offspring, very much loves to feast on the juice of the needles, as well as the juice that is contained in young shoots. At the same time, the parasite leaves its so-called honeydew honey, which attracts other insects, which can also cause some harm to the plant. The external signs of this parasite have absolutely nothing to do with an ordinary insect - it is just a swollen body without any limbs with which it moves. The body is about 8 millimeters long and up to 7.5 millimeters wide.
Thus, we looked at the most common spruce sucking pests, which are found on spruce plants.We also touched upon the issues of how to most effectively deal with them in order to prevent the disappearance or destruction of the plant in the future. In the next part of the article, we will pay closer attention to the needles-eating parasites, which are also extremely harmful to spruce plants.
Spruce pests: insect photos
There are a large number of spruce pests who love to feast on needles or buds that are located on the spruce. They are also classified into three main groups: beetles, butterflies, and sawflies. Like any parasite, these can also be identified if you pay closer attention to the appearance of the plant. If it begins to gradually change color from normal to red or brown, does not crumble for a long time, then this indicates that a spruce sawfly has settled on the plant. He weaves cobwebs, from which a nest is made, and also eats, of course, needles. The bud sawfly is a close relative of sawflies, and they also destroy spruce, usually attacking spruce buds from the inside. Outside, the buds can be gnawed by weevils, which are also quite common pests that must be dealt with at the very first stages of their appearance and identification by the gardener himself.
Until about mid-summer, you can see a huge number of butterflies circling over the spruce trees. These insect pests ate can lay their eggs, and gradually the whole spruce is covered with worms or fatty caterpillars, which very actively feed on the needles and the juice contained in it. This leads to the fact that the plant begins to show all the signs that it is sick, and urgent help is needed. To neutralize these insects and parasites, it is necessary to use special chemical preparations - it is advisable to treat the spruce with insecticides periodically, several times per season, in order to consolidate the effect.
In addition to the fact that the spruce has many external enemies, there are also stem pests that live in the bark of young seedlings. Their vital activity destroys the tree from the inside, causing severe fungal diseases. In addition, these pests emit aromatic substances that attract other pests to the tree, and it is on this basis that they can be identified.
As a rule, if the shoots begin to grow more and more slowly, and the old needles fall off en masse, then this is a sign that the plant is sick. If all the necessary measures are not taken in time, this can lead to the plant losing its decorative effect, and, ultimately, without outside help, it will simply die. You cannot ignore all these signs, you need to carefully look at the plant and fix any, even the smallest, changes in order to prevent further negative consequences from the presence of pests in the spruce.
