2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
The carrot leaf flea, also called the carrot leaf beet, lives almost everywhere. These gluttonous parasites are especially numerous in mountainous regions. And the range of their taste preferences includes various umbrella cultures. Winged individuals, as well as larvae and a little less often nymphs, suck all the juices from young leaves with petioles. The leaves attacked by insolent parasites are strongly deformed, and if the damage was quite significant, then the leaves often die off
Meet the pest
The size of the imago of carrot leaf beetles ranges from 2.6 to 2.9 mm. Their body is always light (usually delicate light green shades), equipped with two pairs of membranous transparent wings. At the same time, the front winglets are slightly widened in the apical third. Also, these carrot enemies are endowed with threadlike long antennae and funny reddish eyes. And their hind legs are perfect for jumping.
The eggs of carrot leaf beetles reach 0.5 mm in size and are spindle-shaped. Initially, they are characterized by a white color, and some time later they acquire a yellowish tint. Yellowish-green pest larvae grow in length from one and a half to two millimeters. They are usually convex at the top, flat at the bottom, and their body is surrounded by a fancy fringe formed by small wax threads.
The main wintering grounds for adults are mainly coniferous trees growing on forest edges. Closer to the end of April, and sometimes at the beginning of May, harmful parasites move to the stairs of carrots and some other umbrella crops. Additional feeding of carrot leaf beetles takes a rather short period of time. After its completion, the females begin to lay eggs, and they lay them one by one, placing them on leaf petioles and leaf blades of forage vegetation. The total fertility of females is quite high and reaches from 420 to 760 eggs. After about twelve to fifteen days, harmful larvae revive, the development of which takes from twenty seven to thirty one days. During this period, they manage to shed three times.
Approximately at the end of July or in August, winged individuals migrate to conifers for subsequent wintering. A single generation of carrot leaf fleas develops per year. To a large extent, the development of these impudent pests is favored by the increased relative humidity of the air in combination with moderate temperatures.
The appearance of a carrot leaf flea on the site can be detected by twisting carrot leaves - they begin to curl and become somewhat similar to parsley leaves. Also, their growth is noticeably suspended, and the crunchy roots harden and gradually dry out.
How to fight
Umbrella vegetables are recommended to be sown at a distance from coniferous plantations. At the same time, it is advisable to completely eliminate the crops of wild carrots in the vicinity.
If the crops of umbrella crops are populated with carrot leaf flea beetles by about 7-15%, the growing crops begin to be treated with insecticides. The most suitable chemicals are Arrivo, Sumicidin, Sherpa, Cymbush, Decis and Actellic. Spraying should be completed one month before the carrots are eaten.
Some summer residents process carrot crops with tobacco infusion (daily) - for this, a kilogram of tobacco waste is bred in a bucket of hot water. And before you start processing carrot beds, about thirty grams of soap should be added to the strained infusion.
The mass death of carrot leaf fleas is caused by the establishment of excessively high temperatures in the spring-summer period. Winter temperatures that are too low have the same effect.
Carrot leaf fleas also have natural enemies - ladybugs, larvae of sirfid flies, as well as numerous bugs representing the families Antocoridae and Nabidae, often feed on both larvae and laid eggs.
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