The larva of the cockchafer lives in the ground at approximately a depth of 50 to 60 cm. It is quite difficult to notice their presence on your site; it is only possible to detect it when digging up the site.
What does it look like
The cockchafer is a large insect, body length about 3.5 cm, color: black or red-brown.
The larva has a thick body, bent to the underside, and is equipped with three pairs of legs. Rounded head shape. Color: from pale yellow to red-brown.
The process of transformation of a larva into a beetle
The mass flight of beetles after wintering begins in mid-spring. Getting pretty hungry, the insects fly to the trees, where they feed on young leaves.
To lay eggs, the female beetle burrows deep into the ground (about 30 cm), lays about 70 eggs and dies. After 30 days, the first larvae will appear from the clutch of eggs, very similar to white worms.
Before turning into an adult beetle, the larva remains in the soil for 3-4 years. In the first year of life they eat only leftovers. plant food. Over time, the larva grows, enlarges, and requires more food for active growth. Now she doesn’t care about chewing through quite large roots.
The end of the life cycle for the larva occurs in mid-summer; it turns into a pupa, very similar to the adult, differing only in color. After a few weeks, the transformation process is completed, but adult beetles remain to overwinter underground until next spring.
What do larvae eat?
Having appeared in your garden, plot or vegetable garden, the larva of the cockchafer feeds on a wide variety of cultivated plants, thereby causing serious damage to them.
- They have a special love for planted beds and.
- They will be happy to enter the plantings and...
- With no less satisfaction they will gnaw the roots of birch, larch, pine, cedar and spruce.
- Can also live in lawn grass and eat its roots.
How to get rid of it using folk remedies and chemicals
Onnative remedies
- Throughout the growing season of the plant, water the soil with a tincture of onion peels. To prepare: take a bucket, place onion peels on the bottom (about a third of the bucket) and fill it with water. Let it brew for 5 days. Dilute the resulting tincture with water in equal proportions.
- Treat the soil between rows or plantings with a chlorine solution. To avoid damage to the plant itself, maintain a distance of 5–10 cm from the root. At a consumption rate of 100 g/ml of chlorine per half liter of water, this is enough to treat several bushes. Between the rows you can work harder (weeds won’t grow there).
It is important! It is most effective to combat cockchafer larvae in warm weather, when they are as close to the surface of the earth as possible.
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Chemicals
- If other methods do not work, you can get rid of the cockchafer larvae by using insecticide preparations: “Zemlin”, “Bazudin” or “Antikhrushch”.
- When using chemicals in the garden, be extremely careful and careful; these drugs have a disinfecting and sterilizing effect. If used carelessly, you risk not only exterminating the larvae of the cockchafer, but also getting rid of beneficial soil inhabitants, such as earthworms.
Prevention
To prevent the appearance of beetle larvae, use the following methods:
- Deep, to a depth of about 40 cm, collect the larvae by hand;
- Enlist the help of birds that are natural enemies of the larvae: domestic chickens or other birds. For greater attraction, make a birdhouse;
- To prevent the appearance of larvae under strawberry bushes, in the spring you should pour a solution of ammonia under the bushes (15-20 ml - per 10 liters of water), or make small depressions in the rows of strawberries and pour a solution of decis (0.1-0.2%) .
- In the fall, dig up the soil and water it with liquid containing chlorine;
- Make grooves between the rows of plants and spill with 0.75% karbofos solution;
- Carry out, for this you can use wood shavings, chopped straw, and crushed bark. Such materials will serve as an obstacle to the penetration of beetles into the soil.
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Be sure to watch - all the ways to combat the cockchafer and its larvae
Larvae in compost. Difference between the larvae of the mole cricket and the larvae of the cockchafer and the larvae of the bronze beetle. What do mole cricket larvae look like? What larvae produce compost?
Many gardeners, shoveling compost, come across fat, white larvae; such larvae are also often found under mulch in garden beds. People, due to their natural disgust, fear or illiteracy, attribute everything to the harmfulness of these larvae, it happens that panic begins, and without understanding they make the most incredible assumptions and often exterminate everyone indiscriminately.
Last year, in an article, I talked about the larvae of the bronze beetle and showed the difference between the larvae of the bronze beetle and the larvae of the cockchafer. Detailed article “How to distinguish a bronze beetle larva from a cockchafer larva” -
At the end of the article, I promised subscribers to take a photo of the compost produced by the larvae of the bronze beetle. It's time to fulfill the promise.
To begin with, I will repeat myself and briefly tell new readers of the site what these “animals” are, and also tell you about my new experience.
Briefly about larvae in compost and under mulch.
Bronze larvae, living in compost and under mulch, feed only on dead organic matter, that is, the mulch itself or the compost itself. By feeding on plant debris, they produce excellent quality compost for you in a compost heap, or they do the same thing, but in the garden, eating mulch. These larvae increase the fertility of YOUR EARTH.
A mother bronze knows what her babies will need for nutrition, so she lays her eggs in compost (preferring grass and leaf compost) or in mulched beds.
Under the mulch you will find bronze larvae.
Very similar larvae that you will find in weeded beds without mulch are the larvae of the cockchafer or chafer.
Larva of the May beetle or beetle.
These larvae will not increase the fertility of your land; they will try to leave you without a harvest. These larvae eat plant roots. Therefore, we look at where we found the larvae.
The mother cockchafer will not dig into mulch or compost; she will lay her eggs where plant roots are accessible to her children. She will lay her eggs in a perfect (beautiful, weeded) garden. (By the way, an ideal garden is a relative concept.)
In such “beautiful” beds you will find the larva of the cockchafer.
Mole and larvae.
If you are not a subscriber, but are reading this article, then I think that you have few or no moles. (A lot is a little, this is also a relative concept, depending on what you compare with).
This is understandable, because the mole eats everything in the ground that moves! If you decide to engage in natural farming and use “Active Mulch” in order to obtain large and environmentally friendly harvests, then the number of moles you will have will grow exponentially, you must be prepared for this. After all, mulch is also processed by earthworms, and worms are the main mole “yummy”.
Earthworms, various larvae (mole cricket larvae included) are included in the mole’s diet, you don’t know which is worse!
Yes, what can I say. I myself didn’t know that such larvae existed while moles ruled our garden, but after a long war with moles, we found effective protection against moles -. Moles no longer bother us, but the number of bronco larvae is growing every year.
To avoid confusion, here is a photo of two larvae. Compare.
On the left is a cockchafer larva. On the right is a bronze larva.
The larva of the May beetle differs from the bronze beetle by its large head, strong jaws, thinner waist and this fashion model is long-legged.
But still, in the fall, you can find cockchafer larvae under the mulch! How did they get there? To answer this question, try to remember at what time you mulched the bed?! You waited for the potatoes to sprout, then you hilled them up, then you hilled them up again, and mulched them when the tops of the potatoes were already 40-50 cm. What month was it? And in what month does the mass flight of cockchafers begin?
Here is the answer to the question: while you were hilling the potatoes, the cockchafer managed to lay eggs, and the mulch that you put on top will not prevent its larvae from eating the tubers! What's the conclusion? Do not delay with mulching, especially since hilling sprouted potatoes will not increase your yield!
Compost produced by bronze larvae.
The quality of the compost is not very visible in the photo; I filmed it in the video below.
Bronze larvae process organic matter and produce compost.
I want to say that two-thirds of this compost consists of apple litter. The apples were ours and our neighbors'. Of course, I didn’t dump a cubic meter of apples into one pile. I collected the fallow every other day, it turned out 4-6 buckets, laid them out in one to one and a half layers, and sprinkled them with sawdust (2-3 buckets), leaves, which I always prepare in the fall (10-15cm), earth (2 buckets), ash, various organic waste that neighbors throw into the forest. Also, waste apples after the production of apple juice were placed in a pile, and there was also a lot of them; more than 100 liters of juice were made. The pile rose and sank.
In the late autumn of 2015, when we were transferring the compost (“Compost in Winter”), we poured larvae into the middle of the “Apple Heap”; I wrote about this last year. The larvae survived the winter normally, and over the summer they ate all the apples. And in the fall of 2016, I took a photo of the compost and made a video.
I mainly use this compost for growing early tomato seedlings, containers for seedlings are 5-8 liters. “Tomato harvest on June 15 in the Moscow region.” — I grow seedlings not only for myself, but also for sale, upon request. If the compost remains, then for growing potatoes “100 kg of potatoes per 5 sq.m.” — .
If you find larvae of different sizes in the compost, this does not mean at all that the larvae of different beetles are in front of you. Bronzewort lays eggs in the compost all summer, and the larvae hatch from the eggs at different times, respectively, small larvae are “preschoolers”, and large ones are “high school students”.
It wouldn’t even occur to us to call a chicken a sparrow because it’s small!
The photo shows that the bronze larvae are of different sizes.
The larvae live for about a year and a half, the further stage of development is the pupa, and from the pupa an adult beetle.
« Quick preparation of compost. Compost is made in one season by larvae" -
About the dangers of the bronze beetle.
From Wikipedia:
“...An adult beetle feeds on flowers of wild and cultivated plants, including fruit trees. Despite this, beetles are not capable of seriously harming gardening.”
It is often written that the beetle eats the stamens of flowers and does not set fruit on the trees.
This may be true, but I didn’t notice any harm from the beetles.
The difference between the larvae of the mole cricket and the larvae of the cockchafer and the bronze beetle.
Mole crickets are very rare in our country; they are mostly brought in with manure. When people find larvae in compost or in a garden bed, they first assume that they are mole cricket larvae.
The mole cricket loves to live in compost, which is made from manure, so when buying manure, remember that along with the manure you can buy a mole cricket or its eggs, completely free of charge. In addition, the mole cricket has wings, and there is no way to insure your garden against her visits. Everyone knows what a bear looks like.
What do mole cricket larvae look like?
The mole cricket is very rare in our country, apparently our climate (Moscow region) is too cool for it, so to find a photo of the mole cricket larvae, I decided to use the Internet. To my surprise, many sites give completely incorrect information; the authors of the articles show photos of bronze beetle larvae and cockchafer larvae, while claiming that these are mole cricket larvae.
Let's open Wikipedia:
“…. The female mole cricket makes a nest at a shallow depth in the ground, the dome-shaped arch of which usually rises somewhat above the surface of the earth - to ensure better heating of the masonry by the sun's rays.
There are hundreds of eggs in the clutch, of which Larvae emerge with a body shape resembling an adult, only much lighter. The larvae grow for several years, the nymphs have visible rudiments of wings...”
The larvae have a body shape similar to the adult!
And on many sites we are offered pictures in which the larvae resemble a thick, white worm!
Let's try to get to the bottom of the truth.
Mole cricket eggs look like this:
And here is the owner of the nest herself. Photo artist Stanislav Shinkarenko shared this photo with us.
The seedlings had already begun to grow, the cucumbers began to grow, and suddenly, here and there the plants withered and fell as if they had been cut down. What is the reason?
Fighting mole crickets in the garden
The first and most famous garden pest — mole cricket- enough large insect, which leads a mainly underground lifestyle.
Since I started gardening, I have almost thoroughly studied the habits of the common mole cricket. At first I didn’t want to believe that she was on my site, then there was a phase of despair and wild horror, from the fact that I met her nose to nose and was finally convinced that it was she—a bear! Now - I just know that it exists, and let it live, you can’t argue with nature. The disappearance of one species entails other, sometimes unpredictable consequences.
Mole cricket widespread throughout the European part of Russia. The natural habitats of the mole cricket are the banks of rivers and streams. She prefers moist, loose soil. In her gardens she prefers planting cabbage, compost heaps, and manure, especially horse manure.
Its presence on the site can be determined not only by cut plants. At the end of May - beginning of June, especially after watering in the morning, winding, dug-up areas of soil are clearly visible in the beds. These are the surface passages of the mole cricket. It is difficult to predict where it will crawl tomorrow. Running after her with a ladle of some nasty stuff is also not fun. Some gardeners sit at night, watch when the mole cricket comes to the surface in order to destroy it. Some gardeners buried three-liter jars of water in the path of mole crickets so that they would fall in and not be able to get out. I remember how I laughed when I read somewhere that you can fight mole crickets if you drive aspen stakes throughout the garden.
I tried to plant seedlings in trimmed plastic bottles. But she refused it. The tomatoes have grown well, but the cabbage grew very poorly in these cut-off bottles. While weeding, slightly touching the edges of the bottles, my cabbages flew out of the ground. There was no way they could catch the edge of the root in the ground.
In order not to increase the number of mole crickets in a particular area, I advise you to get rid of boards and logs buried or lying on the ground. Also make sure that the water containers do not leak. Try not to bring manure from unknown places where there may be a concentration of mole crickets. If you just need to purchase, loosen the row spacing more often, try not to put it on the ground, isolate it from the ground so that the mole crickets do not crawl around the garden. Prepare a special container. In such a container you can spill all the humus or manure with pest control drugs. Also isolate compost heaps from contact with the ground.
What to do with the beds where the mole cricket operates? At the beginning of summer, in June, the mole cricket looks for a warm, sunny place to build a nest and lay eggs. The nest protrudes somewhat from the ground and resembles an ordinary hummock. The only unusual thing is that nothing grows next to this hummock within a radius of 20-30 cm. It is around its nest that the mole cricket cuts down all the grass or other plants so that they do not shade the nest. The mole cricket often comes to its nest and checks if everything is in order. Having destroyed the hummock-nest, you can see many gray-yellow eggs slightly smaller than a pea. That's what it is mole cricket masonry. This is exactly how my meeting with the mole cricket happened: I was looking at a clutch of eggs, and she also came to visit them. My legs were paralyzed from horror and numbness, and when she saw me, she quietly began to back away, covering herself with her claw. How scary she is! The only thing I want is to never meet her again.
So, in order to successfully fight mole crickets, you need to loosen the soil more often and do not neglect deep autumn and spring digging. You can plant marigolds, they say that they also scare away the mole cricket from the main plantings of cabbage or potatoes.
One of the effective ways to combat mole crickets are insecticide preparations Medvetox, Thunder or another drug intended to combat mole crickets and available for sale in your city. It must be used according to the instructions. I’ll tell you right away that it helps. In addition, when planting seedlings, I add crushed eggshells to the holes, which I collect all year.
I also read that you can sprinkle sawdust around the perimeter of the bed and deepen it a little. But I haven’t done it myself, so I can’t recommend it.
My helpers in the fight against mole crickets are cats. As soon as we started living with two cats and a female cat, I noticed that all my plants stayed in place. In the summer, my cats generally catch everything that moves: flies, butterflies, grasshoppers, crickets, caterpillars.
And if the mole cricket moves to the trees, good luck: let it continue to roam the expanses of its native area, improving soil aeration.
If the mole cricket really annoys you, then in the fall, when everything is cleared from the garden and frosts have already begun on the soil, dig several holes up to 50 cm deep, cover it with film and put manure in it. This traps, into which mole crickets must crawl for the winter. Check the holes every morning, at this time mole crickets are slow and easy to destroy. In my opinion, this is the most realistic way to fight mole crickets.
Winter armyworm and methods of combating it
Fall armyworm- night butterfly. I call her: a big fat moth. The butterfly itself is not as dangerous as its caterpillar - thick, large, gray, but can also be light brown. It depends on the type of cutworm, because there are a huge number of them - for almost every plant there is a corresponding type of cutworm. On the ground, the caterpillar is difficult to see. The color matches the top layer of soil.
Cutworm- the worst agricultural pest. She does not disdain anything, she is practically omnivorous. The caterpillar can damage cereals, potatoes, beets, onions, garlic, corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, okra, and cabbage. IN daytime caterpillars can hide from sunlight under the leaves of plants or in the top layer of soil, and at night they crawl out to hunt.
The damage caused by the fall armyworm caterpillar is similar to the damage caused by the mole cricket. By the way, I saw a trimmed onion that had fallen off. I thought that the bear had come out. I raked the soil around the gnawed onion and saw a gray caterpillar. This is the winter armyworm caterpillar. Just like the mole cricket, it cuts off young plants at soil level or simply gnaws the petioles of leaves, gnaws out entire hollows in potatoes, Jerusalem artichoke, beets, carrots and other root vegetables.
The fall armyworm caterpillar is capable of destroying seeds and seedlings in the soil, causing the seedlings to be very sparse and bald spots to appear in continuous plantings. Caterpillars of the first generation fall armyworm damage our gardens, damaging vegetable crops in June - July. The second generation caterpillars “specialize” in sowing winter crops. How to deal with the fall armyworm?
The main and effective measure to combat the fall armyworm is deep autumn and spring digging of soil to a depth of 25-27 cm, which destroys the pupae and caterpillars of the fall armyworm.
At the beginning of summer, when vegetable crops have already been planted, loosen the row spacing more often. When damaged plants appear, rake the top layer of soil - you will probably find a thick gray caterpillar. That's why, thorough loosening of row spacing can be considered one of the methods of combating fall armyworm caterpillars.
Try to keep an eye on more than just your garden beds. Constantly mow roadsides and the area around your property. Flowering weeds are a source of food and egg-laying for the fall armyworm butterflies.
Effective against moth moths traps with fermenting drink: compote, beer, kvass.
Insecticides can be used against fall armyworm caterpillars: Decis, Bazudin, Arrivo, Sherpa. Moreover, these drugs can be effectively used in the following mixture - half the consumption rate of insecticides according to the instructions and 100-120 g of urea per 10 liters of water.
May beetle (chafer) larvae
When digging the soil or adding compost, many gardeners have encountered fat white or off-white worms. This May beetle (chafer) larvae.
The larvae of the cockchafer first feed on particles of humus, then begin to eat up the roots of plants. In the European part of Russia, the cockchafer predominates with a 4-year development period. The most significant damage to plants is caused by larvae of the second and third years of development during the growing season. Plants with severely damaged roots may die.
There is a biological way to combat cockchafer larvae— introduction of nematodes into the soil. If you get rid of cockchafer larvae, you will gain nematodes: radish horseradish is no sweeter! In addition to introducing nematodes, there is measure to prevent the spread of cockchafer larvae: When digging up the soil in autumn and spring, you need to manually collect and destroy the larvae of the cockchafer.
Also, do not apply fresh manure to the soil. It will probably harbor cockchafer larvae. To apply to the beds, use only rotted humus, and carefully look through and shake it before adding: it is better to prevent the larvae from getting into the beds than to find out later how to deal with them.
In this article, I have specifically selected pests against which one of the main methods of control is digging up the soil in spring and autumn. Areas where these pests occur require careful mechanical treatment of the top fertile layer. Thanks to deep mechanical tillage alone, without introducing additional poisons, you can reduce the number of mole crickets, cutworms and cockchafer larvae in your garden plot.
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These pests damage the underground part of plants. Some species spoil plantings in new, recently planted gardens, others - in established ones that have been bearing fruit for a number of years. In new areas, larvae of click beetles - wireworms, caterpillars of harmful cutworms, and beetle larvae - are most often found. Where the garden has been cultivated for a long time and the soil is rich in organic matter, worms, nematodes, millipedes, garden midge larvae, etc. live.
The caterpillars of various moths are dangerous for the garden only in the first year of its cultivation, since in well-cared for perennial beds conditions arise that are unfavorable for the development of this pest. Wireworms remain in new gardens for several seasons, as their development cycle covers 3-5 calendar years. As for other soil pests, they can be dangerous especially where the soil is excessively wet.
Scoops
The most common cutworm that appears in gardens is the winter cutworm ( Scotia segetum), upsilon armyworm ( Scotia ypsilon), scoop exclamation ( Scotia exclamationis) and blackish cutworm C ( Amathes C-nigrum), as well as some others. In the spring months, their caterpillars damage the roots of all types of vegetables and ornamental crops. First, the caterpillars occupy the above-ground parts of plants and gnaw round holes in the leaves. At the third stage of their development, they move into the soil and eat the roots. Most often, cutworms attack cabbage, lettuce, carrots, seedlings ornamental plants. Unfortunately, gardeners usually do not notice in time that caterpillars are eating the above-ground parts of plants, and therefore do not take the necessary protective measures.
Click beetle larvae - wireworms
In young, recently planted gardens or in old ones, but in those places where grasses usually grew, and now beds have been created, wireworms and click beetle larvae cause great damage to the plantings. The greatest damage comes from the striped click beetle, or bread beetle ( Agriotes lineatus), and the smoky clicknut ( A. ustulatus); In some places there are four more species of this insect.
Click beetle larvae attack the underground organs of vegetable crops, ornamental plants and strawberries. They eat small roots of seedlings, eat out or bite the main root of a plant, make corridors, for example, in carrots, celery, as well as in tulip and daffodil bulbs, in tubers of gladioli and dahlias. Damaged plants begin to curl and wither; their underground parts, important from a practical point of view, lose all value. Wireworms cause the greatest damage in March-June and September-October, when they are located in the upper layers of the soil. During the drier summer season, the larvae crawl deeper into the ground. Only larvae of the brilliant click beetle ( Corymbites aeneus) remain on the soil surface and eat succulent parts of plants. The development cycle of the click beetle is 3-5 years, during this period the plants in the beds where this pest has settled are under constant threat.
Larvae of May beetles - Khrushchev
From time to time, beetles may appear in the garden. Most often this is Western May Khrushchev ( Melolontha melolontha). It lives in the soil and damages the underground organs of plants - vegetables, ornamental crops, strawberries and fruit trees. If for one square meter There are 1-2 larvae per garden area, then you need to sound the alarm. Seedlings of vegetables and ornamental plants damaged by the larva die; fruit trees are only at risk in the first two years after planting.
During the years of abundant appearance of Western May beetles, the damage they cause to cherry, apple, plum trees and roses is especially great. During such periods, it is recommended to shake the beetles from the trees and destroy them mechanically.
Centipede larvae(Tipulidae)
In gardens planted in damp places, in the first years, vegetables and ornamental plants are under threat of attack by centipede larvae. Therefore, it may be advisable to check, even before laying out the beds on moderately soaking lands, whether there are centipedes here and in what quantity. The test is carried out as follows: on a test area measuring one square. meter is mowed or all vegetation is pulled out, and the bare surface is watered with a solution table salt(at the rate of 1 kg of salt per 5 liters of water). After such watering, the larvae will crawl to the surface. By counting them, we will get an idea of the degree of contamination of the territory and can, if necessary, resort to chemical means of protection.
The longer the soil is cultivated in the garden, the more pests there are. Let's name a few more of the most common ones.
Centipedes
Centipedes, especially the fragile centipede ( Polydesmus complanatus) and blind centipede ( Blaniulus guttulatus), can grow excessively in composts. In damp summers, they can cause especially great harm to seedlings to whose roots compost soil was added during planting. Centipedes also eat the bulbs of ornamental plants and feast on ripening strawberries. Where these pests appear, it is necessary to reduce the soil moisture by adding ash to it. In berry gardens, you can place wood wool or some other bedding under the fruits, which will have to be replaced with a new one from time to time.
Earthworms, earthworms (Lumbhcidae)
Earthworms or earthworms are beneficial to the garden. By digging underground corridors, they aerate the soil; a sufficient amount of air accelerates the process of decomposition of organic substances occurring in it. However, when there are too many worms in the ground, as a result of their activity, the stability of the seedlings decreases, the adhesion of the roots to the soil is weakened, and the germinating plant is pulled under the surface. Therefore, in exceptional cases it is necessary to protect plants from worms. Then it is recommended to fill the unsown beds with warm (about 40 ° C) water.
Clover nematode(Ditylenchus dipsaci)
The nematode also lives on many types of weeds, and therefore protection against it is very difficult. It is recommended to destroy affected plants and reduce soil moisture; if necessary, you can resort to chemicals.
Garden midge larvae (Bibionidae)
In some places, garden midge larvae cause considerable damage to gardens. Female midges lay their eggs in compost or soil well saturated with humus. The larvae of this pest are found mainly in greenhouses and in those beds where compost soil is also added to ordinary garden soil. In summer, the larvae feed on tender roots and smoldering plant debris, and after wintering they attack germinating plants. There is only one way to avoid the mass appearance of garden midge larvae - always use only well-ripened, decayed compost.
Mole cricket (Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa)
It can be very difficult to cope with the common mole cricket. She gnaws roots or makes corridors under the very surface of the earth, thereby shaking young plants. This pest creates nests of clay 10 cm below the level of the bed, so that the roots of planted crops are exposed and wither. The location of such a nest can be detected by the so-called. focal wilting of plants.
The number of mole crickets in the garden can be reduced by catching them using smooth-walled vessels immersed to the very edges in the ground. In June-July it is recommended to destroy the nests.
Onion mite (Rhizoglyphus echinopus)
It is equally difficult to cope with another soil pest - the root bulb mite. It damages roots and rhizomes, attacking both food onions and the bulbs of ornamental plants. It is not difficult to find out about his “activity”: small, chaotically located corridors filled with small brown droppings are visible in the ground. Soil moisture promotes the proliferation of this pest. You can get rid of mites by storing the bulbs in a dry, well-ventilated place. It is possible, if necessary, to use chemicals.
Pests that attack above-ground parts of plants
Many pests garden plants They eat their aerial parts.
Slug, gastropod(Gastropoda) Most often the field slug appears in gardens ( Deroceras agreste), as well as the net-like slug ( D. reticulatum), smooth slug ( D. laeve), garden slug ( Arion hortensis) and garden snail ( Helix pomatia). Slugs damage above-ground and underground parts of plants, eat holes in the bulbs of tulips and daffodils, in the tubers of gladioli and other plants. Of the above-ground organs, leaves and stems suffer most from them. As for young plants, they are capable of completely destroying them. We learn that our garden has been visited by slugs by the leaf blades eaten from above and by the traces left behind - silvery drying mucus and dark viscous droppings.
Slugs can be controlled mechanically. It is also recommended to sprinkle the paths around the beds with lime, ash, pine needles or a chemical. Common earwig ( Forficula auricularis)
The common earwig is one of the omnivorous pests of the above-ground parts of plants in our gardens. This insect eats leaves and stems, feasts on buds and flowers, especially dahlias, carnations and roses. Leaves and petals acquire jagged edges after earwig feasts. This pest also eats ripening fruits - pears, plums, apricots, peaches.
The best way to deal with an earwig is to lure it into specially prepared shelters made of straw, rags, burlap, or wood wool, and then destroy everything together.
Spider mites (Tetranychidae)
Pests of fruit trees, shrubs, various vegetables and ornamental plants include: different kinds spider mites. They harm leaves and plants in general by sucking out surface cells. The leaves begin to turn yellow, later become whitish, become discolored and finally fall off. Next year, plants affected by this pest will, as a rule, have fewer flowers, and, therefore, fewer fruits. Ticks are considered dangerous and persistent opponents also because several of their generations manage to develop within one year. Therefore, it is recommended to intensively use chemicals against them.
If the pest is severely damaged, the loss can amount to 30-70% of the entire crop, and the formation of flowers can decrease by 75%. In the spring, ticks are not so noticeable, but spraying with chemicals carried out at this time gives better results than twice, but at the height of summer itself. Ticks cause especially great damage in warm, dry weather. Protective measures against mites should be carried out primarily before flowering begins and immediately after it ends. Spring spraying against fruit mites (Panonychus ulmi) should be timed to coincide with the period when 60-80% of all larvae have already appeared; in this case, it is necessary to use drugs that will simultaneously destroy both the larvae and the testicles.
If we were unable to reduce the number of mites to an acceptable level on the eve of spring and during it, then we should be prepared for the fact that during the growing season we will have many difficulties with plant protection. The fact is that then this pest will already be present on the leaves of plants in all stages of its development, i.e. there will be testicles, larvae, and adult bugs, to combat which you will have to use various chemicals. Most of the drugs used do not kill the summer eggs, from which the larvae then emerge; As a result, the pest population quickly recovers.
1. spray taking into account the specific level of infestation;
2. where mites appear regularly, it is necessary to at least temporarily stop using drugs that promote their development;
3. use various chemicals for spraying so that the pest does not develop immunity to a particular drug.
Aphid (Aphidoidea)
Thrips, fringed winged (Thysanoptera)
The leaves, and partly the fruits of trees, can be affected by the caterpillars of several species of butterflies. The main eaters on fruit trees are moths and silkworms.
Moths (Geometridae)
Caterpillars of the winter moth, or small surveyor ( Operophtera brumata), cause significant damage to cherry, apple, pear, plum trees, as well as roses, in their multi-year cycles. In spring they eat leaves and flower buds, and after flowering, fruit buds. First, moths make round holes on the leaves, and then gradually destroy the entire blade, sometimes leaving only one main vein. In young fruits, caterpillars eat deep oval-shaped depressions. On cherry trees they sometimes manage to destroy the entire crop. On pear trees, after flowering they eat only the fruits.
Similar damage is also caused by the moth-peeler, or the fruit moth ( Erannis defoliaria); this pest, fortunately, is not so numerous.
You can fight against moths in the following way. In October, the tree trunk is wrapped in a paper belt, which is coated with a special glue, so that the wingless females of this pest cannot reach the crown and lay eggs there. Goldentail, or goldtail silkworm, gypsy moth, or gypsy moth, ringed cocoon moth, or ringed silkworm
In abandoned orchards or in plantings where the trees are poorly cared for, pear, apple and plum trees are eaten by the lacewing caterpillar ( Euproctis chrysorrhoea). Before winter comes, this pest makes nests of leaves on the tops of branches, where it overwinters. If you destroy these nests in a timely manner, you can prevent pest attacks on trees in the spring. Otherwise, in the first warm days, the caterpillars will leave their shelter and attack the kidneys. Later they will move on to leaves and flowers. If there is at least one such nest per 3 m 3 of crown, the tree cannot be protected from being eaten, and the future harvest cannot be protected from loss.
Real leaf rollers(Tortricidae)
Protecting fruit trees and some shrubs from leaf and bud budworms is not an easy task. This pest attacks mainly apple, pear, and plum trees, but can also settle on apricot and rose bushes, although it is less dangerous to the last two plants. In the spring, leaf roller caterpillars devour the buds; Young trees are in particular danger: losses can be as high as 80%. Then the pests move on to the opening leaves, biting holes in them and eating buds and flowers. Damaged leaves are smaller, curled, and corrugated.
The caterpillars of the next, new generation already in the second half of summer also live on the leaves, eating them almost entirely. In addition, they make many small holes or shallow pits in the skin of apples and other fruits, usually in those places where the fruit is covered with leaves and the skin has not yet acquired its usual color. Fruits with such defects can no longer be left for storage, as they quickly rot. In some years, leaf rollers are capable of destroying a third of the crop in this way.
The most common leaf roller in gardens is the knotweed leaf roller, or bud roller ( Spilonota ocellana), apple budworm ( Argyroploce variegata), fruit leaf roller ( Pandemis heparana), pink leafroller (Cacoecia rosana), and honeysuckle leafroller ( Capua recticulana).
Lithocolletis and Lyonetia
In gardens with intensive farming, lithocolletis and lyoneti often appear in large numbers. The caterpillars of these pests eat away the leaf blades of various plants, making winding paths. The most common Lithocolletis apple ( Lithocolletis blancardella) and Lyonetia fruit ( Lyonetia clerkella). Caterpillars of Lithocolletis vulgaris often eat apple tree leaves, less often they appear on pear and mountain ash, leaving behind oval-shaped holes 0.2-0.8 mm wide and 1-2 cm long. If there are more than three potholes per leaf, then crop losses cannot be avoided. Trees heavily affected by the pest usually bloom little the following year. In such cases, it is recommended to chemically treat the trees two weeks after the end of flowering. If the pest damage is serious, the tree treatment should be repeated after 7-10 days.
Caterpillars of apple lithocolletis form, from May to October, winding and long paths on the leaves of apple, cherry and cherry trees. There can be 10-15 such tracks on one sheet. Damaged leaves dry out and fall off prematurely. Treatment of trees with chemicals is recommended only in case of severe damage; it is carried out when the second generation emerges.
Geese
In spring, the flower buds of apple, cherry, cherry and plum trees are often eaten by apple geese ( Rhynchites bacchus) and several other species of this insect. The most dangerous is the apple goose, which lays its eggs in the fruits of fruit trees. Damaged fruits develop unevenly and often rot.
Bark beetle and other pests that destroy bark
The apricot leaf roller mainly damages apricot, peach and cherry trees, less often plum, apple and pear trees. Its caterpillars eat out corridors in the lower inner layers of the bark; the places where they feasted can be easily identified by the piles of rusty droppings that they push to the surface of the bark. This kind of damage to a tree is often accompanied by gummosis - gum formation.
The leaf roller most often attacks old trees, penetrating under the bark in those places where it is wounded and laying its eggs there. Therefore, the affected areas should not be cleaned mechanically, so as not to further damage the trunk or branch.
It is even more difficult to fight fruit woodworm and bark beetles that settle on weakened trees. Here it is necessary to carry out preventive protective measures, which include right choice places to plant the tree, as well as providing it with proper nutrition. Places that are too damp or places where the ground is too dry are not suitable for planting fruit trees. Trees affected by the bark beetle are identified by the following signs: their leaves suddenly begin to wither and their branches begin to dry out. On the branches of such trees, as a rule, you can find tiny holes a millimeter in diameter. The bark beetle lays its corridors only under the bark, while the woodworm eats into the wood itself.
Rodents
Dangerous pests of garden plants include lagomorphs and rodents. Hares and wild rabbits sometimes eat tree bark and shoots in winter ornamental shrubs. To protect tree plantings from them, some preparation with a specific odor that repels animals is applied to the trunks of fruit trees in the winter. However, it is best to place wire or reed fences around the trunks.
During the years of active breeding of field mice (gray vole - Microtus arvalis) the bark of fruit trees can also be damaged by them. Rodents will gnaw it at the surface of the ground in winter. The vole eats bulbs and tubers of ornamental plants. To avoid losses, it is recommended to destroy mice in their burrows and underground passages using smoke bombs.
In gardens located next to a river or in damp, soaking places, there is another dangerous pest - the water rat ( Arvicola terrestris). It chews through the roots of fruit trees, eats root crops and underground parts of ornamental plants. Treating plants and soil with chemicals does not give good results. Therefore, it is recommended to invest in underground corridors dug by rodents, calcium carbide, smoke bombs, or smoke out pests using exhaust gases. But all these methods give only a temporary effect, and therefore the fight against rodents has to be waged constantly. The following measures are most effective: even before planting the tree, line the prepared hole around the entire circumference with a galvanized metal mesh with cells of approximately 2 cm; then rodents will not be able to reach the roots.
Birds
Birds, primarily the house sparrow and greenfinch, peck flower buds of currants, gooseberries, pears, apricot and peach trees in the spring. Sparrows also destroy lettuce seedlings.
Birds are the culprits big losses harvest of fruits and berries. Thus, house sparrows, black and song thrushes, and common starlings peck ripe cherry fruits, currants and grapes. They feast on ripening pears, apricots, peaches, and peck at strawberries. Blackbirds also love tomatoes.
We usually scare away birds in the garden and field with various mechanical devices. An effective measure is to stretch a nylon mesh over trees and bushes; then the birds will not be able to fly into the fruits at all. You can drive them away using various optical and sound devices (crackers, scarecrows, etc.).
Plant protection from pests
In exactly the same way as we do when protecting plants from various diseases, you should act to protect plantings from uninvited guests from the animal world, namely: direct your main efforts to preventive measures in order to reduce the number of potential pests or at least reduce the intensity of their attack.
Preventive measures include monitoring the condition of stored bulbs and tubers, reducing the relative humidity in greenhouses, limiting the proliferation of mites, ventilating rooms and systematically spraying plants with water, which is very effective in the fight against spider mites. High-quality seedlings taken from healthy mother plants, etc. will help us get rid of nematodes.
Since pests differ from each other in their biological characteristics, gardeners have to resort to a variety of preventive measures. Sometimes the appearance of a pest can be minimized by eliminating the so-called. intermediate host, which is often weedy wild plants. In other cases, mechanical collection of testicles, caterpillars, and beetles will help; Various baits will also come in handy, after which it will be easier to deal with the pest. An anthill that appears in a greenhouse is watered with boiling water. Podura or ponytails will also retreat if we manage to reduce the soil moisture or sprinkle its surface with a thin layer of lime, ash, sand or crushed charcoal. To prevent excessive proliferation of snails and slugs, it is recommended to sprinkle the paths with quicklime, etc.
Fruits, vegetables, bulbs and tubers of ornamental plants selected for winter storage must be completely healthy, without damage, because any flaws are the gate through which putrefactive fungi and bacteria penetrate primarily.
In the storage area, immediately after storing vegetables and fruits, it is necessary to create conditions that limit the possibility of putrefactive fungi and bacteria entering there. Most plant products should be stored at a temperature of 2-5°C and a relative humidity of 85-90%. When humidity is below 80%, from fruits with juicy pulp and a lot of water evaporates from the roots, and when it is above 90%, fungi and, most importantly, putrefactive bacteria begin to multiply quickly. By observing the correct ventilation mode and regulating the level of air humidity, we create the most favorable conditions for winter storage of fruits, vegetables, bulbs and tubers.
It is very important before filling the storage facility to carry out a thorough disinfection there, for example, by fumigation (8 g of sulfur is burned per 1 m 3 of space), having previously sealed all holes and cracks, and lubricated the metal parts vegetable oil. The walls of the room should be whitewashed with lime or sprayed with a 5% formaldehyde solution. Shelves, window frames and doors are treated in a similar way. 24 hours after disinfection, the storage area is thoroughly ventilated. We must also not forget that before placing them in storage, tubers and bulbs of ornamental plants must be pre-treated.
When storing root vegetables, garlic, potatoes, and pome fruits for winter storage, it is necessary to very carefully select healthy specimens, since plant products intended for food cannot be subjected to chemical treatment. Potatoes, fruits, and onions are best placed in a thin layer or even in one row on lattice shelves. Onions and garlic should be kept on shelves in dry rooms where the temperature is slightly below 0°C.
During storage, it is necessary to promptly dispose of all fruits, bulbs and tubers that have begun to deteriorate, and also not to store apples and pears for longer than is practically possible. All this will be those preventive measures against losses in storage and against putrefactive diseases that affect vegetables, fruits, as well as bulbs and tubers of ornamental plants in winter.
Diseases and pests of garden plants. Part 1 Diseases and pests of garden plants. Part 8
With the onset of spring, while digging up beds and plowing the garden, they begin to pay attention to all the strange larvae that can cause harm to seeds, seedlings, roots, and the green part of the plant. One of the most common pests in the garden is the mole cricket, the cockchafer or the beetle. What is the difference between the cockchafer larvae and the one in the photo is demonstrated on various websites. But gardeners continue to invent fables, attributing non-existent features.
Where can you find mole cricket larvae?
Insects become more active as the weather warms up. They overwinter in the soil at a depth of about 2 m or in compost heaps. As the soil warms up in the spring, they move closer to the surface. The optimal temperature for them is 12 degrees.
The mating season falls in the month of May. At this time, adults and young females emerge from their burrows in the dark and fly in search of a male. After fertilization, the female mole cricket builds a nest at different depths for 2 weeks. In fertile, moist soil, the labyrinth with numerous passages is located at a depth of 5 cm. In sandy soil, it goes 70 cm deep. The average depth of the nest is 15–20 cm.
The female lays about 500 eggs. Such a high number ensures the survival of the insect. In order for the larva to emerge into the light, it is necessary to create favorable conditions - air supply, warmth, and high humidity.
On a note!
The difference between the mole cricket larva and the cockchafer larva is obvious. They cannot be confused. But unknowingly, you can perceive a fat white worm as the baby of any insect. To determine who has wound up, you should pay attention to the place where strange creatures were found and the depth of the nest. Mole cricket larvae love heaps of manure; they destroy plants near the nest in the garden so that light gets into the hole. May beetle larvae always end up in a well-groomed, clean, weeded garden.
Appearance of a mole cricket larva
Experienced gardeners know how to distinguish insect larvae, but beginners have to rack their brains.
There are about 500 eggs in a mole cricket's nest. The length of each of them is from 1 to 3 mm. They have a brown, reddish color. Translucent. Under a microscope you can see a living creature in them. The larva develops in the egg for about 2 weeks. At favorable conditions comes out of the shell earlier.
Initially, these are small, helpless, blind creatures that outwardly resemble a bug, but not a caterpillar. They have a reddish color. Their food is the mother's saliva and egg shells. After approximately 7 days, the first molt occurs. The mole cricket larvae increase in size and more closely resemble an adult insect, which even has wings and.
The full stage of imago formation lasts about 2 years. Under favorable conditions – 1.5 years. At the last stage, the genital organs develop. The mole cricket larva has to go through about 10 molts. Each time the body length increases, more and more reminiscent of an adult beetle.
On a note!
The mole cricket larva looks almost the same as an adult. It does not go through the caterpillar stage, the pupa stage, or turn into a butterfly. The body length of the larvae at the initial stage is about 3 mm, at the end of formation – 5 cm. The size of an adult reaches 12 cm, including the tail and mustache. Photo below.
May beetle larva
To the question of how beetle larvae differ, you can answer briefly - everyone. From the very first stage of development to the last.
The reproduction process begins in early spring, when the first leaves appear on birch trees. With the onset of persistent warmth - in May, the female cockchafer burrows deep into the soil up to 1 m. There she lays numerous white, transparent eggs.
On a note!
The mole cricket rarely lays eggs at a depth of 1 m. Since the successful development of the offspring requires warmth and air. The female periodically opens the entrances to allow Fresh air. At a depth of 1 m, it is problematic to perform such manipulations. When digging a garden to a depth of 50 cm, there is a greater chance of stumbling upon a nest, offspring of a mole cricket, etc.
The baby beetles are born after 20 days. In appearance, they are thick, white caterpillars with well-defined rings. Over time, they become larger and rise closer to the surface, feeding on plant roots. It takes several years for the cockchafer larva to develop.
Interesting!
If we compare the larvae of two pests, we can say the following. The offspring of mole crickets cause damage to agricultural crops almost immediately after their birth. Therefore, gardeners use different ones with them. The young cockchafers are initially harmless and are not so voracious in nature.
As they mature, the baby cockchafers turn into a yellowish, fatty worm, a caterpillar. The head is brown, without eyes, with a well-developed gnawing apparatus. There are 3 pairs of legs in the front part. The body is translucent, food remains are visible in the intestines. There are brown spots on the sides of the rings. These features distinguish the cockchafer from other insects. There is no way to confuse them with baby cabbage mushrooms.
A photo of the larva of the May beetle and the larva of the mole cricket is presented below.
Main differences
Having become familiar with appearance Each insect, the features of nest construction, can distinguish the main differences:
- The mole cricket does not go through the worm or pupa stage. It immediately appears in the form of a small insect. It has a brown color, but darkens over time. At the last stage, wings and genitals develop. All this takes about 2 years.
- May beetle larvae are white caterpillars with well-defined rings. They gradually increase in size, reaching a length of 6 cm. They have a twisted ring shape. The head is brown. There are 3 pairs of legs in the front part. This is important to remember, since similar caterpillars are found in the larvae of other beetles that do not harm crops.
On a note!
The difference between the larvae is obvious. One should take into account the fact that the cockchafer develops underground for about 3 years. The cycle continues as the weather warms up. During the first 2 years the larva does not cause much harm; Last year sweeps away everything in its path and turns into a real natural disaster.
In small numbers on a plot of land, the larvae do not cause much harm. This applies to both mole crickets and the May beetle. They loosen the soil, saturate useful substances. However, their large numbers can negate all the efforts of the gardener.
Prevention
To protect the area from pests, it is necessary to dig up the soil twice a year to a depth of 20 cm or more. In this way you can destroy insect nests and destroy larvae.
When using natural fertilizer - manure, it is better to scatter it around the garden in the fall. Then after winter there will be no viable mole cricket eggs left in it. During the spring fertilization procedure, a person through his own efforts contributes to soil contamination.
As a protective measure, make beds with garlic, throw cloves into a hole with crops, plant flower beds with calendula, marigolds, and chrysanthemums.
You can fight pests with folk remedies or professional ones. In case of severe contamination of the soil, insecticidal agents (, etc.) are used, which retain their effect for 1 month and disintegrate completely after 45 days. This is enough to destroy all harmful creatures.