2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Meeting the May beetle causes joy in children and fear in gardeners. This gluttonous pest is capable of causing irreparable damage to the garden and garden. It is useful to know which plants the flight of the May beetle is dangerous to, and how to deal with colonies of larvae
Description and life cycle
The May beetle, called the beetle, has a large oblong-oval body up to 3 cm. It begins to be active in May, for which it got its name. Refers to arthropods, coleoptera of the lamellar family.
The body is protected by a red-brown, yellow-brown, greenish or black chitinous shell. The small head is retracted into the elytra. The abdomen consists of eight segments, the breast consists of three, covered with a yellowish downy. The whole body is covered with gray, yellow hairs, the longest are located on the head.
Khrushch has three pairs of limbs, with 2-3 teeth on the shins. A special feature is a buzz during flight and antennae that resemble a fan-mace. Reproduction takes place in the form of a clutch of eggs, the productivity of one female is 60-80 pieces.
All stages of development of one individual pass underground at a depth of 30-50 cm. The stage of the egg lasts 30-40 days, pupae - 4-8 weeks, larva - 3-5 years. During the generation period, the larvae are omnivorous, actively eating the roots of woody and herbaceous plants. The larva, which has reached its peak of development, comes to the surface at the end of summer and pupates. After wintering in May, a beetle appears, whose life lasts 5-7 weeks, activity only at night and in the evening.
In search of food, the range of flights can reach 20 km (speed 7-10 km / h). This contributes to the wide distribution of populations.
Which is more dangerous, beetle or larvae
At all stages of life, the beetle is a pest. An adult feeds on inflorescences of cherry, gooseberry, plum, currant, apple tree. Likes to feast on earrings of alder, birch, young foliage of linden, maple, aspen and other hardwoods. In the southern regions, it raids vineyards, planting walnuts and chestnuts.
May beetle larvae pose a particular danger to agriculture. Their activity leads to the death of plants, as they eat and suck the juice from the roots. With each year of development, the younger generation of the beetle grows in size, the ability to eat grows significantly. I will give examples by age.
• First-year larvae, in large populations, easily destroy plantings of potatoes, strawberries, corn, onions, carrots.
• It will take a two-year-old a couple of hours to eat up the roots of a young seedling, whose death becomes inevitable.
• A three-year-old in a day can completely destroy the root system of a two-year-old tree.
Fighting the May beetle
Only comprehensive measures will help to solve the problem. They should be aimed at destroying adults and their larvae. Folk remedies and chemicals are used.
Folk recipes from the May beetle:
• mechanical removal of larvae during soil digging;
• processing of seats with onion peel infusion;
• installation of birdhouses, attraction of birds eating beetles / larvae;
• watering the soil with a solution of potassium permanganate before planting seedlings;
• saturation of the soil with nitrogen: sowing lupine or white clover;
• collection of adult insects: in the morning the beetles are inactive, they are shaken off the trees onto the litter;
• installation of light traps with a viscous substance inside (in the dark, the flight of the beetle is directed towards the light).
There will be no problems with the May beetle if hedgehogs or moles live on the site, this insect is included in their diet.
Chemicals
If the "natural" methods did not help, use industrial drugs, consider the 6 most effective.
1. Zemlin distributed in the area intended for digging (30 g per 20 sq. m.) or introduced into the holes before planting a seedling, potato tuber (10 g per hole). Has a detrimental effect on the larvae.
2. Antichrush low toxicity, good effect. Sold in the form of a suspension / concentrate, 10 ml is diluted in 3-5-10 liters. The proportions are important for a particular plant species and are indicated in the instructions.
3. Pochin produced in granules, which are crumbled under digging or into holes.
4. Nemabakt belongs to the category of biological products, harmless to humans and animals. Selectively affects larvae. It is used as an irrigation, diluted in proportions of 10 g + 1 l of water.
5. Aktara, Vallar in granules, added to the wells, for digging. The insecticide can be dissolved in water and applied as an irrigation. Compatible with subcrust and other chemicals.
It is better to start fighting the May beetle during the period of activity of adults - in the spring during the summer.
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