The infamous "forest killer" - small silverfish

The small silverfish belongs to the order Coleoptera, a small beetle family, and is a dried borer pest commonly occurring on garden plants. They fight in groups, endangering the whole tree, and constantly encroaching on weaker growing seedlings on a large scale. During the larval stage, the moth pit hazards between the subcortical layer and the xylem, resulting in necrosis of the transporting tissue, the inability to upload water and nutrients, resulting in poor growth, lack of water in the branches and even death. Don't look at their small size, but the harm is huge, taking the "legion" mode of combat, under the attack of thousands of small beetles, large areas of forest will die in pieces, so it is often called "forest killer".

[1] Morphological characteristics

Larvae: The terminal larvae are about 2.4 mm long, milky white, with a smaller anterior end and a slightly larger posterior end, with a hypertrophic body and wrinkles. Adult: Female adults are about 2.5 mm long, cylindrical, black-brown in all, with an extended beak-like head, compound eyes and kidneys, antennae and knees, and bulging ends as large as balls. The anterior thorax dorsal margin is rounded and blunt, with irregular small tooth protrusions, and the posterior margin is nearly square and smooth. The elytra are tongue-shaped, 1.5 times longer than the dorsal patch of the anterior thorax, and the wing surface has carved dots and fur, arranged in longitudinal columns. The male adult is 1.3 mm long, yellowish brown, and the surface of the elytra is rough, and the dotted and marginal arrangement is not very clear.

[2] Recognize symptoms

When you see a lot of "noodle-like" sawdust on the skin of a tree in the wild, it is very likely that there are small beetles in the tree; when the bark surface flows with strings of "snot", it may be that the tree body is using its strong immunity to resist the attack of the small silverfish, and once the whole plant is defeated, it will die. If you look a little closer, the fine holes in the bark surface are also direct evidence of the presence of small beetles.

[3] Prevention and control methods

(1) Agricultural prevention and control:

Strengthen water and fertilizer management, on the basis of applying sufficient base fertilizer, each time the emergence period should be reasonably fertilized, in order to promote the growth of new shoots thick, reduce small beetle infestation.

(2) Physical prevention and control:

1. Reasonable planting. Suitable land for trees, rational planning of afforestation land, selection of tree species or varieties with strong stress resistance, creating mixed coniferous and broad-leaved forests, strengthening nurturing, and increasing biodiversity. Timely logging, reasonable logging, maintain the hygiene of the forest land, and timely remove the wind and dead wood in the forest.

2. Cut down the damaged wood, reduce the harm of insect pests, immediately cut down the weakened wood or dead standing wood that has been seriously damaged, and carry out the necessary pest treatment.

(3) Chemical control:

It is possible to use the Qilin "eradication moth" for root application prevention or the use of "Yongfan" bottle for prevention and control.