2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
The sprouting raspberry aphid is an almost ubiquitous and very active pest. In addition to raspberries, it also damages roses with blackberries, but this happens much less frequently. The shoot raspberry aphid is characterized by very intensive reproduction - it is capable of giving from eight to twelve generations per year. Harmful parasites form quite solid clusters. As a result of their destructive activity, damaged raspberry leaves curl and gradually dry out, and the shoots are noticeably bent. Of course, such processes lead to a deterioration in the quality of aromatic berries and to a significant decrease in the volume of the harvest. In addition, the shoot raspberry aphid is also considered a carrier of all kinds of diseases
Meet the pest
Wingless parthenogenetic females grow in length from 2.3 to 2.5 mm. All of them are colored dark green, and many brownish specks are scattered over their bodies. Their tubes are cylindrical and very thin, antennae and eyes are black, and their tails are finger-shaped and rather long.
The winged individuals are about 2 mm in size. Their green abdomens are also dotted with brownish specks, and the breasts and heads of these pests are black. The shiny black eggs of the shoot raspberry aphid are usually very small.
Fertilized eggs almost always overwinter near the buds. As soon as the raspberry buds begin to bloom, voracious larvae are reborn. And in adult females, they turn closer to the beginning of budding. Adults move to the leaves and actively reproduce on them all summer. In addition to leaves, they also inhabit young shoots.
Approximately in the middle of June one can observe the appearance of winged females. And towards the end of July and towards August, their living conditions deteriorate significantly, which in turn leads to a decrease in the number of shoot raspberry aphids. Its morphology also undergoes certain changes - the pests become smaller and colored in yellow tones. They are also characterized by the appearance of five-segmented antennae.
The development of the amphigonic generation takes place from the end of September until November. Fertilized females begin to lay eggs - as a rule, they lay up to four eggs each. These eggs remain to winter until next spring.
The shoot raspberry aphid is especially harmful in seasons with hot and dry summers.
How to fight
In order to destroy wintering eggs, raspberry plantings are sprayed with Nitrafen in early spring (30 g of the drug is taken for ten liters of water). If the pests have infested from fifteen to fifty percent of fruit and leaf buds before flowering, then additional spraying is necessary. The same is done if, after collecting fragrant berries, three to five colonies of these harmful parasites are found on every hundred of the apical shoots. Most often, berry bushes are sprayed with Karbofos (for every ten liters of water - from 20 to 30 g of the product).
Folk remedies, especially infusions of pyrethrum, makhorka or tobacco, have proven themselves quite well in the fight against sprouting raspberry aphids. A 1% suspension is usually prepared from pyrethrum, to which double the amount of soap is added. It is important to know that feverfew is poisonous to bees, therefore, if there are a lot of them on the site, you should opt for other means for carrying out treatments.
In the case of a significant increase in the population of the shoot raspberry aphid, it is recommended to treat the raspberry plantings with a solution of green soap (ten liters of water will require it from two hundred to four hundred grams).
Numerous predators, which include bugs, lacewing, gall midges, hoverflies, ladybugs, beetles and larvae of coccinelids, and many others, contribute to a decrease in the number of shoot raspberry aphids. The larvae of sirfid flies also actively reduce the population of pests.
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