2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Shchiten is literally an ubiquitous crustacean that feeds on farmed rice. It is not found unless in Antarctica. It is noteworthy that the shield is considered an ancient fossil animal. He lives on the globe for a long 185 million years, being in fact the same age as dinosaurs, and his appearance has practically not changed. This pest was named a shield because its cephalothorax is covered by an oval-shaped chitinous shield, in the middle of which there is a longitudinal keel. And in some states, this pest even managed to get into the Red Book
Meet the pest
The shield is a crustacean endowed with an egg-shaped body. The average size of adults is 50 - 55 mm. The posterior part of the abdomen protruding from under the scutellum in this rice parasite is short and slender, equipped with two long, thinnest appendages exceeding the body length.
The well-developed ruminant jaws of the scabbard provide them with the opportunity to feed on tiny animals, as well as underwater plant particles and fish fry. And an excellent view of the outside of these pests is guaranteed by a pair of complex eyes and a rather unpretentious point.
Under the scutes on the lower sides of the scutes, there are limbs in the amount of several dozen pairs. Such limbs perform a lot of functions - in addition to the fact that pests move with the help of them, the limbs also perform respiratory and auxiliary functions. The latter helps them capture tiny animals and send them into their mouths.
Harmful shields lay eggs covered with very dense shells. In the event of freezing or drying of water bodies, such shells guarantee the viability of the enemies of rice for seven to nine years. Already at the beginning of May, you can find the larvae of shtitchens in water bodies, in puddles and in rice fields. The larval bodies are characterized by the absence of segmentation and the presence of three pairs of legs. In addition, they are distinguished by the complete absence of metabolism, that is, they can remain viable for decades even under the most unfavorable conditions. The larvae develop for about two to three weeks - and already in June, the appearance of adults is noted.
Shield beetles patiently await the formation of their future habitats in the soil. As soon as an environment favorable for their development appears, and this happens mainly after flooding of rivers, melting of snow or rains, the active development of these rice enemies begins.
Damage to rice crops caused by these pests also contributes to water turbidity. Gluttonous shields are active almost round the clock. During a meal, they gnaw rice roots and sprouts, heavily eating the lower leaves, as a result of which the plants often float to the water surface. During the year, only one generation of shittocks develops, but it is also distinguished by a rather high harmfulness.
How to fight
When growing rice, it is imperative to include legumes in the crop rotation. To increase the resistance of rice to damage, early sowing of this crop with a wrapping approximately to a depth of 1.5 to 2 cm also helps well.
If shields began to multiply massively during the period of rice germination, then it is recommended to completely drain the water for two or three days (or in the worst case, reduce its level to three to four centimeters) - the pests will certainly die before they can lay eggs. Lowered places in which shields accumulate are treated with bleach, spending 10-15 kg per hectare. The presence of 7-10 adults per square meter of rice paddies is a noteworthy and urgently required threshold of harmfulness of shields.
But the malicious shield has not acquired natural enemies for hundreds of millions of years of its existence. True, if there is not enough food for these parasites, they can begin to eat each other without a twinge of conscience.
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