The "town of octagons", Gulong Town, Teng County, Wuzhou, Guangxi, is suffering from insect plagues. This is the largest and most concentrated production area of octagonal cultivation in Guangxi. On May 19, Mr. Huang, a villager in Gulong Town, told Red Star News that the local octagonal trees were suffering from inchworm insects, which caused great concern among farmers who planted octagon trees as their main source of income.
↑Screenshots of videos provided by respondents show that the local octagonal trees are full of octagonal inchworm larvae.
Mr. Huang said that his family planted 4,000 to 5,000 octagonal trees, and nearly 80% of the family's economic income came from this, and the octagonal trees bore fruit from March to August every year, and insect pests would affect the harvest to a certain extent. According to Mr. Huang, there were "signs" of insect infestations as early as March this year, but the father who was responsible for tending the octagonal trees at that time did not attract attention. Today, some octagonal tree trunks and trees are full of creeping inchworms, the leaves are "eaten up" by insects, and my father is busy spraying pesticides on octagonal trees all day, and some spraying areas are controlled, but the insects are transferred to other areas. Therefore, Mr. Huang returned to his hometown to help, the pest has not been effectively treated, and his father has been sprayed with pesticides for a long time, and his skin is also stained with a lot of drugs.
Another villager in Gulong Town told Red Star News that some trees in Gulong Town, which are full of octagonal trees, are suffering from insect infestations, and some trees have even died as a result. There are also villagers who say that the pest is currently well controlled, because in the past two years, affected by the climate and other reasons, the output of star anise has declined and the price has risen, and the unit price of star anise per kilogram at the beginning of spring this year can reach up to more than fifty yuan, and the current price of star anise has fallen back to more than forty yuan, and the impact of insect pests on the price of star anise has not been seen.
Public information shows that the octagonal inchworm belongs to lepidoptera, the inchworm family, is a major pest of the octagonal tree, with larvae nibbling on the octagonal leaves, in severe cases, the entire octagonal forest leaves can be eaten, the continuous harm to the tree growth is poor, resulting in reduced yield or the whole plant withered. Octagonal inchworm occurs in Guangxi for 4 to 5 generations per year, the main harm algebra is 2-3 generations, the development period is short, and the generation overlap occurs seriously. Pupae and larvae overwinter, and the overwintering larvae begin to be active in January and February of the following year, pupate in early March, and adults begin to appear in late March. Larvae eat single-mindedly, young larvae only eat leaf flesh, leaving the epidermis, the epidermis dried up to make the leaves perforated, middle and older larvae eat from the leaf margin, eat the whole leaf, lack of food also nibble buds, young fruits and young branches, a larvae about 18-20 leaves, when stopping eating, inhabit the leaf back or leaf margin, sometimes spit silk drooping, after old ripeness into the soil pupa, depth of 3-4cm.
↑Screenshots of videos provided by respondents show that local octagonal trees are covered with octagonal inchworm larvae.
According to the information publicly released by the People's Government of Gulong Town, since the spring of this year, the town has successively occurred infestation of octagonal inchworm insects. Recently, affected by this year's high temperature and drought climate, the second octagonal inchworm disaster broke out in various villages in Gulong Town, and many octagonal forests suffered from different degrees of harm.
↑ The local government organizes drug spraying work
In order to prevent and control the disease and insect pest of octagonal inchworm and protect the income of forest farmers, on the morning of May 10, Huang Qionglan, deputy county magistrate of Fujian County, went to Gulong Town to investigate the damage of octagonal insect pests. On the morning of May 15, experts from South China Agricultural University and Hokkaido University went to Gulong Town to carry out research on the control of octagonal pests and diseases. The expert group put forward emergency technical guidance on the prevention and control of octagonal inchworm at that time, and provided ecological restoration plans according to the distribution of octagonal forests in Gulong Town.
Red Star News reporters interviewed Li Qing, a professor in the Department of Plant Protection of Sichuan Agricultural University, on how to prevent and control inchworms. Li Qing said that inchworms harm the leaves of plants, and in severe cases, they will eat the leaves of trees. To prevent the harm of inchworm, it is better to use a drug to eliminate insects before the eggs hatch to the third instar larvae (young larvae). When the larvae develop into an advanced age, the amount of food they feed increases, and the resistance of the insects will also increase, and the effect of the administration of the agent is not as good as that of the young larvae that are still in the third instar of the insects.
Li Qing pointed out that adult inchworms have wings and can fly, can expand the scope of pests, if in one area of pests do not apply pesticides to remove insects, then the insects may spread to another area after developing into adults, therefore, to eradicate insect pests, it is recommended that the planting area should be "unified prevention and control". In the process of "unified prevention and rule", according to the situation, continuous administration of the drug 1-2 times, 7-10 days after the first application, if the insect situation has not been controlled, apply 2 times. In areas with conditions, insecticidal lamps can be considered to trap adult insects.
Red Star News reporter Chen Qingyuan
Edited by Zhang Xun
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