AT A GLANCE
Which green caterpillars attack the apple tree?
It is about the caterpillars of Small frost moth (Operophtera brumata), a butterfly from the Spanner family. These are light green in color and have yellowish-white stripes. Since they only have two pairs of feet, they move with a typical cat's hump.
How do the green caterpillars get into the apple tree?
The female of the frost moth place her eggs, from which the green caterpillars slip into the bark cracks and shoot tips of the apple tree. They crawl up the trunk with the beginning of the first night frosts. Only the males frost moth have functional wings and swarm out at dusk to fertilize the females on their way to the crown.
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During the cold season, the eggs are in a dormant phase. The caterpillars hatch as soon as the flower buds open, well into May.
What damage do the green caterpillars do?
Since the caterpillars in very numerous occur are the feeding damage of the small frost moth considerably.
They first eat the buds, and later the apple leaves. The apple tree goes through the infestation too the frostbite not, but the loss of leaves weakens the fruit tree. This can even affect next year's earnings.What to do against the green caterpillars in the apple tree?
Even if the winter moth has already taken up residence in your apple tree, you don't have to put up with a bare tree, because there is various countermeasures:
- Particular parasitic wasps(€19.00 at Amazon*) lay their eggs inside the moth's eggs, thereby preventing more caterpillars from hatching.
- Predators such as birds minimize the number of larvae considerably. Provide nesting sites for their settlement.
- The bacterium Bacillus thuringienisis is deadly for the green caterpillars. The treatment is possible from a temperature of 15 degrees.
How can I prevent the green caterpillars in the apple tree?
The frost strainer can through glue rings prevent very well. The one with one non-toxic glue You should attach the coated rings to the trunk of the apple tree by the end of September at the latest. They prevent the females from crawling up the tree and laying their eggs.
To prevent the female butterflies from crawling under the glue rings, you should stuff larger indentations in the bark. Also equip the tree posts with glue traps so that the insects do not use them as a bridge into the tree treetop to be able to use. Remove the glue rings again in December.
Tip
Bead glue as an alternative to glue rings.
For apple trees with very rough bark, you can apply special caterpillar glue directly to the entire trunk with a brush. This is carefully removed with a spatula in January and renewed if necessary.
