About 1.2 million red-eyed bees are stocked in Yuelu Mountain to eliminate pests such as pine caterpillars and maple incense moths

The "Bug Task Force" then headed for the foothills

About 1.2 million red-eyed wasps were stocked to eliminate pests such as pine caterpillars and maple poison moths

On July 9, in Changsha's Yuelu Mountain Scenic Area, staff displayed red-eyed bee eggs in small paper bags. Photo / Reporter Xie Changgui

These days, Yuelu Mountain has come to a "worm special team". These "agents" are less than 1 mm long, but their combat effectiveness is explosive, and they can "quickly and accurately" eliminate pests in the bud.

It turned out that these short and fierce "agents" were actually red-eyed bees, and they had landed on Yuelu Mountain many times to eliminate pests such as pine caterpillars and maple incense moths. It sounds so lethal, will these red-eyed bees cause harm to tourists? Scenic staff said that red-eyed bees only eat pests and do not bite people, and tourists do not need to worry.

Recently, many citizens who went to Yuelu Mountain to play suddenly found that there are some small white paper bags hanging on the trees on both sides of the main road, what is contained in it, and what is the role? On July 9, the staff of Yuelu Mountain Scenic Area told reporters that in order to prevent pests such as pine caterpillars and maple incense moths from destroying the growth of trees, the scenic spot used red-eyed bees for biological control. "The little paper bag contains the eggs of the red-eyed bee." Li Ping, deputy manager of the Lushan Mountain Scenic Area Garden Greening Company, said that the red-eyed bee likes to parasitize the eggs of a variety of pests and devour the eggs of pests to achieve the purpose of removing pests. It is reported that this is the seventh year of pest control in Yuelu Mountain using red-eyed bees.

Visiting small paper bags on trees is a sharp tool for insecticides

The reporter found in Yuelu Mountain that there were some small white paper bags hanging on the trees on both sides of the main road, which were about the size of matchboxes and were nailed to the trunk, and the words "red-eyed bee egg card" were also written on them. Li Ping pulled a small paper bag from the tree and opened it to check the incubation of the eggs inside. "A bag has twenty or thirty eggs, and one egg can hatch about 10 red-eyed bees." Li Ping said that these eggs basically have the conditions for hatching, as long as it does not rain, when the temperature reaches a certain level, the red-eyed bees in the paper bag can hatch successfully. "Eggs that have collapsed or broken like this have hatched successfully, but there is no way for eggs that have changed color to hatch." Li Ping said that last Thursday, they nailed the paper bag containing the eggs to the tree, which has basically hatched successfully in the past few days, and now there are only some egg pieces left in the paper bag.

Why is the "insecticide" approach adopted? Li Ping introduced that if chemical agents are used to kill insects, it will not only cause environmental pollution, but also make pests have adverse consequences such as drug resistance. Through the red-eyed bee, it can effectively control pests such as pine caterpillars and maple incense moths, and can also avoid environmental pollution, and will not threaten humans. "These successful hatching red-eyed bees parasitize on the eggs of a variety of pests, destroying the eggs of the pests." Li Ping said that this biological control method can reduce the survival rate of egg mass, which can reduce pests by about 40%.

Trick traps use odors to "lure" pests

Li Ping introduced that there are three times a year in Yuelu Mountain and other pests high incidence time, mid-summer is one of the stages, if the pests can be eliminated before the adult pests, most of the pest eggs can be eliminated, the follow-up insect pests will be easier to deal with. To this end, they released 6,000 bags of red-eyed bee egg cards within the 2,000 mu forest area of the Yuelu Mountain Scenic Area, totaling about 1.2 million.

In addition to the red-eyed bee, what other insecticidal tricks does Yuelu Mountain have? The reporter found that some tall trees still had some objects like lanterns hanging from them. Li Ping said it was a trap. Since June to August is the feathering period of the pine brown tianniu, these traps can use the odor emitted by the sexual attractant to allow the tianniu to cast a net to reduce the density of pests. It is reported that there are about 70 traps in the entire Yuelu Mountain, and more than 2,300 adult Tianniu have been captured, and several other pests such as the Golden Turtle and the Patina Golden Turtle have been captured.

In addition, in April this year, the scenic spot also adopted the method of spraying biological agents for pest control, and in the near future, biological agent spraying will be carried out. "We will adopt different control methods according to the incubation period of the pest to achieve the best results." Li Ping said that pests such as maple incense poison moths and pine caterpillars breed three generations a year, so they need to be controlled many times.

Science

How can a red-eyed bee of less than 1 mm have super combat power

1. How to fight pests

An adult red-eyed wasp is less than 1 mm long and has pear-shaped wings with single wing veins and spike-like marginal hairs. When pests lay eggs, they release a pheromone through which red-eyed wasps can quickly find the eggs of the pest. They crawl on the surface of the pest eggs, constantly tapping on the shells, quickly and accurately finding the freshest pest eggs, and then laying eggs and breeding there. This process of "doves occupying magpies' nests" is the process of forestry pests being eradicated in the bud stage.

2. Will it cause harm to tourists?

Staff said that red-eyed bees do not bite people, and tourists do not need to worry about this. Red-eyed bees feed on eggs, and when the eggs are eaten, the red-eyed bees will die if they lose their food. In short, the release of red-eyed bees is a good biological control method, which is not only fast and low cost, but also has the advantage of no pollution.

Li Tang, a reporter of this newspaper, reported from Changsha