Latin name: Ostrinia nubilali
Type of pest: Omnivorous pests
Series: lepidoptera - Lepidoptera
Family: Fireflies — Pyraustidae
In Ukraine, the zone of significant damage covers the forest-steppe and the north of the steppe zone, the most damage is in the western forest-steppe. The caterpillar damages corn, hemp, millet, hops, sunflower, develops on thick-stemmed weeds.
Butterfly size 26 – 32 mm, male forewings brownish-brown with a broad light toothed stripe along the outer margin and a dark spot near the middle of the forewing; in females, the front wings are lighter, whitish-yellow or light brown.
Caterpillar 20-25 mm, gray-yellow with a red tint and a longitudinal stripe on the back; head and shield storm.
Pupae 18-20 mm, yellow-brown with four hook-like spines on the cremaster.
Caterpillars hibernate in the stems of damaged plants, pupate in mid-May to early June. The summer of butterflies, as a rule, coincides in time with the beginning of the shedding of panicles by corn. Females lay eggs, placing them in piles of 15-20 pieces, on the underside of a leaf; the egg stage lasts from 3 to 14 days. The caterpillars settle on the plant and in protected places (in the axils of the leaf, under the wrappers of the cob, etc.), bite into the middle of the stem, where they feed. Having finished feeding, they remain in the damaged stem for the winter. In the south, part of the caterpillars of the first generation pupate immediately, and in August - September, the second generation develops.
Protection measures. Destruction of thick-stemmed weeds; timely harvesting of corn at the lowest possible cut; deep field plowing with preliminary processing of stubble with BDT7 or BDT10 harrows.
From biological means, a two-time release of the useful insect Trichogramma is used at the beginning of egg laying and a week later.