Common Beetroot Flea On The Plot

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

The common beet flea is an ubiquitous pest that, in addition to beets, also damages hemp with buckwheat. And in arid climates, she will not refuse to feast on hops, sainfoin and some cruciferous crops. The most gluttonous parasites harm sugar beets in dry and sunny weather, as well as with a rather uneven emergence of seedlings. Without affecting the epidermis, they gnaw disgusting sores from above. And the epidermis, as the leaves grow, gradually breaks, and on the leaves you can see holes framed with brown uneven edges. Also, these garden pests can damage the apical buds of young plants and their stems. And if the damage is significant, the plants dry out

Meet the pest

The common beetroot flea is a tiny dark bronze beetle that ranges in size from 1.9 to 2.4 mm. All pests are endowed with an oval body, and many punctate grooves can be seen on their elytra. The bases of the pronotum are almost straight in front, and slightly convex closer to the scutes. The antennae, as well as the front and middle femora, are dark in common beet fleas. The apices of the tibia have rather deep notches on the middle and hind legs. These garden scoundrels not only fly, but are also capable of jumping perfectly.

The size of light yellow eggs of common beetroot beetroot reaches 0.6 mm. White larvae grow up to 3, 5 - 4, 5 mm in length and are endowed with legs and heads of brownish-yellow color. The legs of the larvae are characterized by developed femora and coxa, and their oval tips of the abdomen are equipped with a pair of spines bent upward. White pupae, which are about 1, 7 - 2 mm in size, also have a pair of spines at the tips of the abdomen.

Half-ripe beetles overwinter in forest belts on vegetation, as well as in perennial fields, on roadsides and in gardens. In the western and northern regions of Russia, as well as in rainy and cold seasons, up to half of the bugs can go to winter in the soil. The depth of their occurrence is about twenty to thirty centimeters. The harmful parasites leave their wintering places quite early - towards the end of March or at the beginning of April, as soon as the thermometer reaches a value of six to eight degrees, and the soil surface warms up to twelve to fifteen degrees. Well, when the air temperature is about fourteen to sixteen degrees, the bugs begin to feed on weeds from the families of haze and buckwheat. A little later, when the first shoots of sugar beet hatch, the garden scoundrels will immediately move on to them.

Approximately in late May or early June, gluttonous parasites begin to lay eggs. When the weather is cool and humid, the egg-laying process can take up to two months or more. And if the weather is dry and hot, then two to three weeks will be enough for the pests. In the process of laying, harmful parasites can take breaks for two to six days. At the same time, female eggs can be laid either one at a time or in small groups, placing them in the ground at a depth of three to five millimeters, most often near the stalks of buckwheat crops. As much as possible, each female during the period of her life is capable of laying up to two hundred to two hundred and forty eggs.

After about one and a half to two weeks, the revival of voracious larvae begins, penetrating the roots of sorrel, rhubarb, sorrel or cultivated buckwheat and feeding there for 26-40 days. During their development, they manage to go through three ages and shed twice. And the pupation of the larvae takes place at a depth of ten to twenty centimeters in the soil, in tiny earthen cradles. Pupae development takes between fourteen and eighteen days.

At the end of June and at the beginning of July, one can observe the emergence of new generation beetles. Until the very autumn colds, they feed on buckwheat and haze weeds, as well as their favorite sugar beet. And only after having eaten enough, in September-October they go to winter. During the year, a single generation of common beetroot fleas develops.

How to fight

The main preventive measure against the common beet flea is the timely disposal of weeds. And the seeds are best sown only after they have been treated with systemic insecticides. With a particularly large number of pests on the site, beet seedlings are also treated with insecticides.

If the soil is characterized by a sufficiently high humidity (ranging from 65% to 75%), then the pupae begin to die en masse from various bacterial diseases.