Content
- What does the spider moth on the bird cherry look for?
- The fastidious nature of the gossamer moth
- What is the spider moth doing with the bird cherry?
- A pestilence that should be destroyed?
- Tips & Tricks
What does the spider moth on the bird cherry look for?
As if covered by a veil ... Some bird cherries look like scary ghost trees between April and June. Most likely here was the so-called Gespinstmotte at work. You should know about them.
The fastidious nature of the gossamer moth
The webbed moth is a moth of the family of webbed and bud moths. She is wearing silvery-white fore wings and drab hindwings. In addition to the silvery color, spider moths are easily recognized by their black spots.
But what is so bad about this animal for some gardeners? The larvae of the filamentous moth feed mainly and preferably on the common bird cherry. They are fussy, specializing in the cherry and rarely attack cherries and other fruit trees.
What is the spider moth doing with the bird cherry?
The females among the gypsy moths lay their eggs on the winter buds of the bird cherry after mating between late summer and autumn. The caterpillars hatched from the eggs overwinter under the bud scales.
In the spring, they wake up and eat the buds or freshly expelled and poisonous leaves for us humans. This is usually the case until the end of May / beginning of June.
And then?
A pestilence that should be destroyed?
Do not worry, the caterpillars eat the bird cherry while bald, but drives the plant out again. This is the so-called Johannistrieb. By noon in the middle of summer, the bird cherry is no longer eaten bald.
The webbed moth can help you. But chemical clubs are less recommended for environmental reasons. On the other hand, there are about 80 different insects that eat the gypsy moths and prevent them from spreading. These include, among others, bugs and parasitic wasps.
Tips & Tricks
Another method, which is in our own hands, is to collect the animals in time from the wood of the bird cherry in case of infestation.