2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
The Asian locust damages all garden, forest, field, horticultural and melon crops. Grasses growing in reeds, in pastures and hayfields also suffer from its invasions. It is most widespread in southern Russia and is considered the most voracious locust
About the pest
The Asian locust is a greenish, grayish, brown or olive-brown pest, 29 - 59 mm long. It has long elytra with brown spots and transparent hind wings, which have a faint yellowish-greenish tint in the main part; on the body in front in the middle there is a sharp longitudinal keel.
Asiatic locust eggs are rounded at the ends, 6 - 8 mm in length. In the first half of May, larvae are born from eggs, which "fledge" 35 - 40 days later. During its short life, each insect devours about 300 g of green food. Having gathered in flocks, the Asiatic locust can destroy hundreds and even thousands of hectares of various crops in just an hour or two. Most of all, she loves wild and cultivated cereals. And only with age, individuals of this pest become more polyphagous. Permanent nests of gluttonous parasites are located in the floodplains of the lower reaches of the Terek, Don, Ural and Volga rivers.
How to fight
Since ancient times, villagers went to the fields with rattles, saucepans, bells, bells, where they made a lot of noise. The locust is terribly disliked of noise.
An important means of reducing the population density of this pest is the regular plowing of contaminated land. Digging up the soil, of course, will help to detect and eliminate most of the larvae, but it is unlikely to contribute to their complete destruction.
It is impossible not to mention such a method of struggle as burning dry residues of various cereal crops. This procedure helps to eliminate part of the egg-laying. But even this method may not give a 100% result - developing organisms are often located at a depth exceeding 5 - 7 cm, and the heat from the burning straw to them simply may not reach them. About the effectiveness of this method, controversy continues to this day.
In the places of the alleged invasion of the Asian locust, protective measures are carried out (across its movement): ditches up to one and a half meters deep are dug up to the width of two excavator buckets.
Catching of locusts with huge small nets is also practiced. From the caught pests, it is possible to produce concentrated feed that is eaten by fish and birds with pleasure. The production of compound feed from winged reptiles for enterprising villagers can turn into a very profitable business.
Spraying with a solution of cow urine (1:10) can help repel the Asiatic locust and have a toxic effect on it.
Scientists from Nigeria have created a rather effective remedy called "green muscle". The basis of this biopesticide is the notorious living in vivo (mainly in Africa) fungus Metarhizium anisopliae. For grasshoppers and locusts, this agent is deadly, and for other insects it poses absolutely no threat. It is also absolutely harmless to people, animals and plants. Spraying a suspension of spores of the above fungus from the air, it is quite possible to suppress the invasion of parasites in the bud.
There is also an alternative way to get rid of the locust. These insects are very attracted to unrefined rapeseed oil. If you add to it the spores of the fungi - Beauveria bassiana and the aforementioned Metarhizium anisopliae, you get a death trap. Moreover, it will be inexpensive - the cost of unrefined rapeseed oil is very low. Asiatic locusts, flocking to plants sprayed with such a mixture, become infected with fungal spores and die within one to two weeks.
In China, to fight the pest, they use chickens specially trained for this - as soon as the locust lands on plants, hungry chickens attack it, capable of pecking up to fifteen of them in a minute! Basically, all grasshoppers are excellent high-calorie protein feed for poultry. Hand-picked Asiatic locusts can always be fed to birds. Such an addition to their diet can please with a gain in ducks, turkeys and chickens.
The Asian locust should be fought with poisonous substances with great care so as not to harm the crop. It is best to treat the soil with such preparations before sowing in the spring. Sometimes the procedure is repeated with an invasion of pests.
It is important to know that it is forbidden to treat forage lands with insecticides at least 20 days before haymaking! Also, the control of the Asiatic Locust must be completed before fledging.
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