2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Flax thrips lives literally everywhere and damages flax crops quite seriously. Both the larvae and the adults rather quickly suck out all the juices from the apical tissues of the vegetation, which in turn leads to abnormal branching of the cultivated flax and to the death of growth points. Cultures attacked by these gluttonous parasites begin to lag behind in growth, and their leaves often curl and fall off. In addition to the decrease in the volume of the harvest, the quality of seeds and flax fibers is also noticeably reduced
Meet the pest
The length of the narrow bodies of adult flax thrips reaches about 1 mm. Males are slightly smaller than females and slightly lighter. The bodies of pests are painted in brown or black-gray tones and are endowed with two pairs of slightly darkened wings with a fancy edging of a long fringe. The narrow front winglets are characterized by the absence of transverse veins and are slightly tapered towards the apices. The seven-segment antennae of gluttonous parasites are dark in color, only their second and third segments will be lighter. And their pronotum is equipped with three pairs of hairs along the posterior margins. The abdomens of these flax pests are slightly widened, while in the females they end in miniature ovipositors bent down. Their legs are almost always black, and the front yellowish tibiae are slightly darkened in front.
The size of the bean-shaped eggs of flaxseed thrips ranges from 0.25 to 0.3 mm. And yellowish harmful larvae, growing in length up to 0.8 - 1 mm, are the owners of partially darkened abdomens and breasts. Light yellow pronymphs are characterized by the presence of antennae directed forward and transparent wing buds.
Adults overwinter at a depth of twenty to forty centimeters in the soil. They get out of their winter shelters only with the onset of spring, when the soil warms up to fourteen degrees. At first, they actively additionally feed on juicy flowering weeds, after which they mate and gradually move to flax crops. At the same time, mainly females go in search of flax. Linseed thrips eggs are laid mainly in the apical parts of growing crops, trying to place them as deep as possible in the tissues. And at the stage of flowering, the eggs of these parasites can also be found on the inner sides of the ovaries and buds with sepals. Especially massively flaxseed thrips lay eggs approximately in the last days of June and in the first decade of July. The total fertility of females reaches eighty eggs.
After about five days, harmful larvae begin to appear from the eggs, the development of which takes from twenty-three to twenty-five days. And after this time, they migrate into the soil and turn there into pronymphs and winged adults, which remain in the soil until spring. During the year, only one generation of these gluttonous parasites has time to develop.
Oil flax and fiber flax are equally affected by the harmful activity of flax thrips. The length of the productive parts of the stems is significantly reduced, the buds fall off, the leaves curl, and the seed pods are strongly cracked. And in dry seasons, the harmfulness of these insects increases markedly. Weakened flax is often damaged by saprophytic fungi.
How to fight
The most effective protective measures against flax thrips are the optimal sowing time with a slight increase in the seeding rate, stubble plowing and deep autumn plowing. To a large extent, flax cultivation will help to reduce the loss of flax in a crop rotation after fallow and after clover.
If there is a massive colonization of flaxseeds with these parasites, then they start spraying with insecticides. In this case, mass colonization means infestation by pests of 10% or more crops in the budding phase or the presence of forty to fifty larvae and adults on each plant. Most often, Fufanon, Karbofos or Bi-58 New are used to combat flax thrips.
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