2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
The beetroot, or beet, weevil is a big lover of beets and weeds from the notorious Haze family. And although only one generation of this pest develops per year, its larvae and beetles can cause very serious damage to the beet crop. Numerous ulcers on the roots gnawed out by harmful larvae lead to a decrease in the sugar content of delicious root crops and their mass. And the bugs gnaw through young shoots and devour the cotyledon leaves along with the real ones, which contributes to the death of heavily damaged vegetation
Meet the pest
The beetroot weevil is a black, harmful beetle that looks gray due to the many short scales that make it visually lighter. The tops of the elytra of the parasites are rounded, and in their centers one can notice intermittent black stripes-sling. Near the tops of the elytra there are small white mounds with black edges. The antennae of beet weevils are geniculate, and the blunt head tubes are equipped with grooves and a thin keel. The two-lobed segments of the fore legs in males always reach the middle of the last segments, while in females they reach only the third. There are solid fossae in the center of the first and second abdominal rings.
The eggs of these beet eaters are oval, delicate light yellowish in color, approximately 1, 2 - 1, 4 mm in size. The legless, curved arcuate larvae of the parasite are also light yellow, slightly wrinkled and rather fleshy, consist of twelve segments and are endowed with a reddish pectoral shield and a brownish head with powerful dark brown jaws. Curved along the back, the length of the adult larvae is approximately 27 - 30 mm. And the size of yellow-white egg-like pupae is about 11 - 15 mm. Pupae also have a rather pronounced proboscis and transverse rows of spines along the posterior margin.
Immature beetles hibernate in the ground at a depth of five to ten to fifty to sixty centimeters. In principle, most of them are very conveniently located at a depth of 25 - 40 cm. As soon as in the first or second decade of April, the soil at the depth of occurrence of the parasites warms up to seven to ten degrees, gradually, over about twenty days, the beetles begin to get out to the surface and go in search of food. At first, they feed mainly on weeds from the family of haze, especially their favorite knotweed, kurai, as well as spinach, chirita and quinoa.
Ten to twenty days after the release of the beetles, their years begins. They are especially active on sunny and warm enough days, when the wind speed does not exceed five meters per second. Mass years can usually be observed at an altitude of five to ten meters from 10 to 11, as well as from 15 to 16 hours. With frequent short landings, they are able to fly up to eight to ten kilometers per day, respectively, sugar beets are colonized by parasites in a fairly short time. Having finished additional food in May, the harmful beetles turn into sexually mature individuals. After mating, they lay eggs in the surface soil layer (0.3 - 1 cm) near the vegetation. Careful females cover all the holes with newly laid eggs with earth and tamp them well. The duration of the laying period in beet weevils is just over one month, and the total fertility of females is 100-200 eggs. As for embryonic development, it takes about 6 to 10 days.
In the second half of May, extremely mobile first larvae appear, which move at great speed in the soil and feed on the roots of beet or quinoa found there. Upon reaching the third age, they go deeper into the root zone already up to 10 - 15 cm, and adults penetrate even deeper. The larvae develop, always passing through all five centuries, on average over 65 days (45 - 90). Harmful pupae develop from 16 to 20 days, and the entire full development cycle of the gluttonous parasite takes an average of 85 days (from 65 to 148). Each beetle during its life cycle eats a volume of greenery that is one hundred times its own weight - 13 - 14 g.
How to fight
Their natural enemies, predatory mites and ground beetle saviors, can greatly help in reducing the number of beet weevils. And not only shrews willingly feed on beetles, but also birds: quail and gulls, jays with rooks, crows with magpies, as well as jackdaws with starlings. In this regard, attracting the above-mentioned feathered assistants to the site will be a pretty good measure.
You should also get rid of the sow thistle, quinoa and other weeds that attract the beet weevil. Regular irrigation of the soil, combined with loosening, helps to destroy harmful larvae - excess moisture will scare away these lovers of dryness and heat.
In order to reduce the risk of damage to young shoots, seeds are treated with special preparations before planting.
If the number of pests on the site is very high, then they start processing with chemicals.
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