Certain damage to fruit trees is typical of certain animal pests. Once the animal visitor has been identified, concrete measures can be taken.
What pests can attack fruit trees?
The most common pests that can attack fruit trees are spider mites, aphids, mealybugs, mealybugs, blackworms and voles. Depending on the type of pest, they can damage the trees by removing sap, feeding damage or root damage. Preventive measures and control methods include spraying with water, pruning, use of beneficial insects or chemical agents.
The most common pests at a glance
Not every pest affects every fruit tree, as many of these animals are committed to a specific host species. However, there are a number of people who are not very picky.
Spider mites
Spider mites can hardly be seen with the naked eye. They only grow to 0.8 mm in size. The very mobile green, yellow or red animals stay mainly on the underside of the leaves and form typical webs there. They cause damage through deprivation of juice. The initially light mottling on leaves and shoots turns into brown spots until they wither and fall off. Combat: spraying (chemical agents only if the infestation is very high!), promoting natural enemies such as predatory mites and predatory bugs.
Aphids
Aphids, of which there are several hundred different species, occur primarily on the undersides of young shoots. They damage the fruit tree by removing cell sap, but can also transmit harmful viruses and attract ants. Combat: spraying with a hard jet of water, pruning, beneficial insects such as ladybirds, parasitic wasps, hoverflies and birds.
mealybugs and mealybugs
There are several pests that coat the leaves and fruits with sticky secretions (called honeydew). If it is aphids, you can tell by the curled leaves. With mealybugs, however, the sticky coatings are usually the only noticeable symptoms. You can also recognize an infestation by these damage patterns: Small, light stains appear on the leaves and sometimes also on the fruits, although the leaves can also yellow and fall off if the infestation is severe. The affected parts of the plant are heavily covered with honeydew and are often colored black by sooty mold fungi. There are also usually numerous ants on the tree. Combat: Cut back, in case of severe infestation spray with oil-containing preparations.
Bigmouth Weevil
This is a black-brown, flightless beetle, approximately 10 millimeters long. The larvae, which are also up to 10 millimeters long, are cream-colored to brownish white and have a reddish-brown head. Black-mouthed weevils are active at dusk and at night. When disturbed, they drop and are motionless for a moment. During the day they hide in cracks in walls, under layers of mulch and other sheltered places. The beetles eat holes in the edges of the leaves, so-called bay feeding. However, the far greater damage is caused to the fruit trees by the larvae: They eat the fine roots. Control: Chemical control should be carried out in the evening. The use of nematodes (€29.00 on Amazon) (e.g. Heterorhabditis bacteriophora) has also proven to be very successful.
Tip
Voles are also dangerous plant pests. They gnaw on young roots, but often also on the bark of young fruit trees and bushes. Affected trees are loose in the ground, branches or even entire trees can die. The fight is carried out using traps and poison bait.