2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
The common bread beetle is found mainly in the steppe, as well as in the forest-steppe up to the southern outskirts of the woodland. Proceeding from its harmfulness along with the number, the Russian territory is divided into two zones of weediness: permanent and cyclical. The main food of the larvae is the ladders of winter crops. They eat with great pleasure the young leaves of tiny seedlings in such a way that only veins remain of them. In places of accumulation of harmful larvae, the vegetation in most cases dies, which is far from the best effect on the volume of the crop
Meet the pest
The common ground beetle is a harmful bug measuring 12 to 16 mm in size. The body of these voracious parasites is painted in a resinous black color and has a faint metallic sheen. Their convex elytra are equipped with small deep grooves, and tarsi with tibiae, as well as antennae, are painted in brownish-black tones.
The size of the milky-whitish oval eggs of the gluttonous parasites ranges from 2 to 2.5 mm. Larvae, which grow up to 28 mm in length, pass as many as three ages during their development, differing exclusively in the size of their bodies and head capsules. The thoracic segments of the larvae, as well as their heads, are colored dark brown. But the color of their abdomens can vary: in the larvae of the first, second, and also until the middle of the third instars, they have a grayish-greenish color, in the larvae completing feeding, the abdomens are usually white, and immediately before pupation they acquire creamy shades. White pupae of an open type live in small earthen cradles.
Larvae of different ages overwinter at a depth of twenty to forty centimeters in the soil. Sometimes bugs also hibernate, but they are often infected with fly larvae and therefore quickly die in the spring, before their departure. Spring feeding of larvae starts as soon as the soil thaws, and lasts from five to seven weeks, depending on the temperature regime and, of course, on their age. Most often, during this period, winter wheat enters the tillering phase or entering the tubes. By the way, in the southern Russian regions, harmful larvae may well complete feeding in the fall or winter. They pupate, as a rule, at a depth of twenty to thirty to fifty to seventy centimeters in the soil. In the northern regions this usually occurs in the second half of May, but in the southern regions - at the end of April or at the beginning of May. Pupae develop from fifteen to twenty-five days.
The beetles are selected on a spacious soil surface at the beginning of the stage of formation of winter wheat grains, and their mass yield can be observed already at the stage of milk ripeness. This process in the north starts in June, and in the southern regions - from the second half of May to early June. For bugs, a twilight lifestyle is characteristic. In the daytime, they take refuge in various storages, and when the sun goes down, harmful parasites rise along the stalks to the ears, gnawing at first their ovaries, and then eating soft wheat grains. Most of the bugs finish feeding before the harvest begins, at the end of which they hide in the soil. This is especially true during dry and hot seasons. And the depth of the beetles in the soil depends on their accumulation of body fat and moisture and can vary from ten centimeters to half a meter. In this state, depending on soil moisture and temperature, they are from twenty to thirty days, and sometimes more.
If moisture suddenly gets into the soil chambers, the bugs will return to their former activity. On the soil surface, they can usually be seen in the second half of August or early September. If the overall conditions are favorable, the harmful parasites begin to mate, after which they lay their eggs in tiny special chambers at a depth of ten centimeters. Each female lays on average from fifty to seventy eggs, maximum - up to two hundred and seventy. Only one generation of these parasites develops per year.
How to fight
Observance of crop rotation along with timely harvesting and liquidation of volunteers, as well as stubble plowing and soil cultivation in accordance with the semi-fallow technique are the best protective measures against common ground beetles.
Seeds of various crops are treated with insecticides before planting. The growing crops themselves are sprayed with insecticides, especially when they enter the heading phase. However, such treatments will be advisable if there are three to five bugs on each square meter of crops in the summer or from two to three larvae in spring and autumn.
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