Leisurely Sandy Slow

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

Sandy sludge is found in huge quantities in the southern regions of the steppe zone, although in general it is distributed almost everywhere. These polyphagous parasites harm completely different crops - onions, beans, soybeans, cucumbers, tomatoes, cabbage, corn, sunflowers and a number of other crops. And in the spring and with the beginning of summer, they are especially dangerous for seedlings of vegetables and ladders of all kinds of row crops. The main harm is caused by beetles - the larvae hardly touch growing crops, since the basis of their nutrition is the putrefactive remains of various plants

Meet the pest

Sandy sludge is an oval beetle measuring 7 to 10 mm. The sides of its body are almost parallel, and the body itself is slightly convex. The entire body of the attractive parasite is covered with a dense soil crust of grayish-brownish or black color, and the clypeus located in front is endowed with a semicircular and rather deep notch. The hind winglets are absent in the sandy slug, and the elytra are equipped with longitudinal regular rows of tubercles of a rather solid size.

The length of the flat-cylindrical larvae of the sandy sludge is approximately 18 mm. All larvae are endowed with opaque integuments, dark heads and glasses. Their color can vary from brownish yellow to dark gray shades, while the bottom of the pests is always painted in lighter colors. In the middle of the clypeus and upper lip, the larvae have two clavate-shaped tips.

The lifespan of voracious beetles usually ranges from one to two years. They hibernate, as a rule, in the upper soil layers and in the fields in the remains of numerous plants. And on the soil surface in the steppe zone, parasites are selected already at the end of March or at the beginning of April - the more exact dates depend on the degree of soil warming.

In April, unhurried pests mate, and by the end of the month (sometimes at the beginning of May) they lay eggs, and the process of laying them stretches until the end of May or even up to the beginning of June. Females lay eggs in small heaps, each of which contains up to ten eggs. They place eggs at a depth of two to five centimeters in the soil. Each female is capable of laying up to hundreds of eggs per season. Larvae from eggs laid in early May appear in the second half of the same month, and in mid-June, larvae hatch from eggs laid at a later date. Their full development takes about 35 - 40 days. After completing it, the harmful larvae immediately pupate at a depth of three to six centimeters in the soil. Pupae usually take six to eight days to develop. Adults can be seen as early as July, but their emergence from the soil continues throughout August. And pupation of the larvae reborn from the latest egg-laying occurs from August to September.

The most serious damage is caused by the gluttonous beetles of the sandy sludge from late April to mid-May. Plants that have begun to wilt are especially loved by these parasites.

How to fight

When growing various crops, it is recommended to observe early sowing dates and constantly combat weeds. Presowing seed dressing and the introduction of various fertilizers into the soil are also encouraged, and on row crops, in addition to everything else, it is necessary to observe the irrigation regime. As for reducing the number of wintering beetles and larvae, autumn plowing and stubble plowing at the end of the harvest will be good helpers in this difficult task.

The so-called poison bait method works well against sandy linger beetles. This method was developed due to the ability of adults to accumulate under all kinds of shelters, feeding on various vegetation. Several pre-prepared green baits treated with various permitted insecticides are laid out on the site. The weight of each bait should be about two hundred to five hundred grams. In this case, the insecticide for each such bait is consumed from two to ten grams. After some time, the bait together with the collected beetles are destroyed.