This slit on apple wood has been opened up to reveal overwintering leafhopper eggs. They typically lay 8 to 12 eggs per slit. In spring, immatures emerge to feed on weeds. The glacier-coated mountains of the Tian Shan Range create a stunning backdrop to a 40-year-old apple orchard in the Ili River Valley of southeastern Kazakhstan. The fruit trees were planted at the height of the Khrushchev economic boom in the former Kazakh Republic, which was part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. They are local varieties such as Pestrushka, Aport, or Limon, planted on random seedling rootstock taken […]