The Gladers and Euproctis chrysorrhoea are species of moths that can harm not only the trees growing in your garden, but you as well. Therefore, in order to protect both yourself and the plants, it is important to know how the gold-tails look, where they are most common, how they can hurt you and how you can fight them.
Goldtail Description
The butterfly itself, that is, an adult individual, has a white color with a silky tint. The wingspan of the gold-wagger or, as it is also called, golden silkworm, is about 3-4 cm, the head antennae are similar in shape to the leaves of oak, have a yellowish color. It is possible to distinguish a female from a male by the abdomen: in the female it is thickened, and in the male it narrows towards the end. 
Regardless of gender, such a butterfly has a bunch of hairs at the tip of the belly, which differ in color from the color of the whole body and butterfly wings: in females they are golden (hence the name of the species), and in males it is brown in color.
Did you know? Science is aware of 165,000 different species of butterflies. The largest are representatives of the species. Attacus aitas or peacock atlas. The wings of these insects in scope can reach 30 cm, so this butterfly is easily confused with the bird. You can see peacock eyes in tropical or subtropical forests of Southeast Asia, in South China, as well as in areas of Thailand, Indonesia, Kalimantan, Java.
Distribution and habitat
The distribution area of such butterflies is relatively small. Most often, these insects can be found in Central and Asia Minor, they are also common in Western Europe and in the European part of Russia (to the Urals in the east and to the forest tundra in the north). That is, Zlatoguz inhabitants inhabit almost the entire European continent. They prefer to build nests and lay eggs on oak, because it is most often eaten. 
Development cycle
The breeding period of the goldfish is mid-summer. At one time, the female goldfish can lay 300 roundish yellowish eggs with a diameter of 0.5 cm. As a rule, they do this in groups on the underside of the leaves of the tree, making special cocoons for the eggs and covering them with hairs on their belly. Then the female itself dies and becomes prey of other insects or animals.
Did you know? Not everyone knows "dark side" of such harmless-looking insects like butterflies. Some of them feed on animal droppings or urine, decaying meat, or even reptile tears. Such features of certain species are used by scientists to attract insects: for example, to catch a representative of the species - the checkered skipper - researchers spit on the fabric and leave it in the area where such butterflies live. A piece of matter saturated with saliva reminds insects of bird droppings, so they sit on it and easily fall into the trap of scientists. In scientific circles, this method of attracting butterflies is called the Arenholz method.Gold-footed eggs winter in a silk cocoon. In the spring, with an average daily temperature not lower than +12 ° C, the larvae appear from them, which in a short time develop into caterpillars. They can reach 40 mm in length, have 16 legs, white-black-orange-brown color with bunches of red hairs on the whole body. The caterpillars gnaw through holes in their nests that they can hide in when it gets cold outside.
They begin to eat actively and eat bunches of trees, then move to the leaves, from which only the central veins are left. The feeding period of the caterpillar is about a month, during which time they manage to shed about 5 times. 14-20 days after flowering, the caterpillars finish their development. They weave themselves separate cocoons of cobwebs between leaves, branches or in the bark of a tree, hiding in them. When the average air temperature reaches +26 ° С, the caterpillars molt one last time inside the cocoon, turning into black-brown pupae.This stage of development of the insect lasts about 20 days, after which adults or imago are born. Butterfly beavers are nocturnal. As for food, both caterpillars and adults already prefer oak leaves, but they can eat apple, pear, hawthorn, linden, aspen, blackthorn, willow, birch and other trees. As a rule, they eat young plants.
Did you know? Butterflies are one of the most common objects for collecting, many species of these insects are listed in the Red Book, but in Asia and South America, butterflies are a popular delicacy. For example, in China, a common appetizer in the form of boiled and stewed silkworm pupae. This dish can be tasted in a restaurant, cafe, or even purchased in a regular tray on the street. Opinions that resemble pupae to taste, diverge: some say that the tree, others argue that such an appetizer tastes like rubber.
Harm goldfish
First of all, gold-wisps cause enormous damage to plants, since they can eat all the leaves and bunches on them. They feed throughout the summer, and eat bunches in the spring, preventing the leaves from blossoming. Thus, the tree not only cannot bear fruit, but also becomes defenseless, the process of photosynthesis, which occurs in the leaves, stops, the plant becomes weak and can even die. But gold-wisps do not stop at this: having eaten one tree, they move to another and do the same thing with it. 
It is important to make sure that the goldsmiths do not grow on the trees in the park or the botanical garden, because because of such insects the plants become less attractive. In addition, goldtail beasts are poisonous and can harm humans. Between the ninth and tenth segments of the body they have orange bumps with glands. If the caterpillar is disturbed, a liquid is secreted from the outflow ducts of these glands, which dries up on the tips of the caterpillar hairs.
Important! When working in a garden or a park where such insects inhabit the trees, you should not forget to wear a special respiratory mask that will protect your respiratory tract from ingress of poisonous hairs in the golden-brown pattern. It is also important to protect hands and skin from exposure to poison.When a person touches these hairs, the poison gets on the skin and causes irritation with itching and inflammation. The skin condition improves only after a few days. In order to cope with such a reaction faster, a compress can be made from the baking soda solution (one teaspoon to a glass of water) on the affected skin.
In addition, as you know, these insects often shed, their hairs fly in the air and, if they enter the airways of a person, cause coughing, hoarseness, or even allergies.
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Methods of dealing with goldtails and preventing their appearance
In order not to have problems with goldtails, of course, it is better to regularly prevent the appearance of such insects. It is best to resort to preventive measures in the fall, when the leaves have fallen off, or in the spring, before the bunches bloom, when it is easier for plants to notice the places where the goldfinches laid eggs. The essence of preventive measures consists in a careful examination of the trees for the presence of cocoons with golden silkworm eggs. 
If there are not very many such trees and bushes, you can remove them by hand. However, if the defeat is massive, those branches on which many cocoons, it is better to cut and burn. Birds (jay, titmouse, cuckoo) or carnivorous insects (takhin, braconid, chalcid, etc.) that consume goldtails and their eggs as food can also help in the fight against golden silkworms, thus freeing them from the garden or a park.
Therefore, bringing such assistants to the site is an important part in pest control. For example, to attract birds, you can equip a garden with feeders and from time to time fill them with food. It is best to do this in the winter, so that by the time the zilogogz birds are active they are used to visiting this area and feeding on it. If neither prophylaxis, nor birds or insects help to get rid of the gold-and-wolf-tails, it is necessary to resort to the help of toxic chemicals - inhibitors of chitin synthesis or biological pesticides.
Important! Preventing or destroying the gold-wagger should be carried out together with the neighbors in the area, because even if you take all the necessary measures to get rid of pests in your garden, they can get to you from trees growing on the other side of the fence.This is done in early spring, before the caterpillars emerge from the cocoons. Trees are sprayed with a solution of "Corsair" or "Phosphamide" (15 g of substance per 10 liters of water). When the kidneys have already appeared and the caterpillars come out of the cocoons, you can get rid of them with the help of 20 g of chlorophos, diluted in 10 liters of water, 50 g of entobacterin, also diluted in a 10-liter bucket, or 30 g of metaphos for the same bucket of water.
Zlatoguzki - insects, dangerous both for your garden, and for you. They are easy enough to recognize, however, to get rid of such pests, it is necessary to make an effort. In order not to spray trees with chemicals, it is important to carry out prophylaxis, the essence of which is to seek out the cocoons of golden-tails and destroy them.
