2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
The large cereal aphid lives literally everywhere, but most often its mass reproduction can be encountered in the steppe zone. Her tastes include rice, barley, oats with rye, wheat and various wild grains. During the growing season, the large cereal aphid manages to develop in several generations, sometimes giving 14 - 20 generations a year. Individuals that form colonies suck the juices from the aboveground parts of growing crops, thereby contributing to a significant drop in the volumes of the long-awaited harvest
Meet the pest
The size of the wingless females of the large cereal aphid is from 2.5 to 3 mm. Most often they are painted in yellow-brown or greenish tones. Also, these viviparous pests are endowed with antennae exceeding the length of the body and rather long legs. And their light lanceolate tails are always shorter than the tubes (one and a half times). As for the winged females, their abdomens are green, and the breasts are blackish-brown or reddish-brownish. The elongated oval eggs of pests are colored black, and the total fertility of females is from six to twelve eggs. The hibernating eggs of the female of the large cereal aphid are usually laid at the end of October or in November.
The eggs of these sucking parasites usually overwinter on wild-growing cereals or winter crops. In the southern regions, it happens that adults also winter. And the larvae emerge in April-May. As a rule, they immediately form open colonies on the spikelets, and sometimes such colonies can be seen on the stalks with leaves. As a rule, parasites do not form large colonies, as they are distinguished by excellent mobility. Starting from the first generation, winged individuals appear, settling on spring grasses. And in September, when tiny shoots of winter crops begin to hatch, a large cereal aphid migrates to such areas from their summer reservations.
You can meet large cereal aphids throughout the European part of Russia, with the exception of the Far North. The productivity of the affected crops is markedly reduced - the number of empty spikelets increases, while the weight of the grains decreases. First, the parasites feed on the edges of the plots, gradually penetrating deeper. The large cereal aphid is especially harmful in dry years. In addition, it is also a carrier of a wide variety of viruses, including the destructive yellow dwarf virus in barley.
For the best development of a large cereal aphid, air humidity in the range of 65 - 80% and an average daily temperature of sixteen to twenty degrees are considered optimal. The mass reproduction of these parasites is largely preceded by years with humid and moderately warm summers, followed by humid autumn. And the maximum number of large cereal aphids is usually observed at the stage of earing, as well as in the phases of waxy and milky ripeness.
How to fight
Winter plowing, active control of wild-growing grasses, liquidation of carrion, periodic application of nitrogen-containing fertilizers and stubble plowing - these are the main preventive measures in the fight against harmful large cereal aphids. Good results can also be achieved when sowing early maturing varieties. Feeding balanced in potassium with phosphorus will also come in handy.
During the relocation of voracious winged females, edge treatments are carried out with various insecticides, and when a large cereal aphid reaches a particularly solid number, continuous treatments are carried out. For spraying, you can purchase drugs such as "Sirocco", "Borey" or "Aliot". Also, Shar-Pei and Break have shown themselves to be good. It is allowed to use such means as "Karate Zeon", "Aktellik" and "Aktara".
The worst natural enemies of the large cereal aphid are parasites from the braconid family. In addition, coccinelids also excellently contribute to the reduction of their number.
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