2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
The beet miner fly lives literally wherever beets are grown. These scoundrels are especially common in the western forest-steppe. In addition to beets, her tastes include spinach, quinoa, dope and henbane. This pest is dangerous in that it can give from two to four generations in one season - the exact number of generations usually depends on weather conditions and on the habitat of gluttonous parasites. Their mass reproduction is especially favored by a warm and rather humid summer, as well as a warm autumn and a warm dry spring
Meet the pest
The size of the adults of beet mining flies ranges from 6 to 8 mm. Their abdomens are colored dark gray, covered with short dark brown bristles, and on the sides are characterized by a slight reddish tint. The dark gray pronotum of the pests is also densely covered with short, dark bristles. And on their semicircular heads, large reddish eyes stand out strongly. The legs of beet mining flies are always dark, and the legs, thighs and trochanters are brownish.
The size of the eggs, colored in milky white tones and characterized by an oval shape, is about 0.5 - 0.8 mm. The eggs of these pests are characterized by a convex sculpture formed by diamond-shaped faces. Fleshy legless larvae of yellowish-white color grow in length up to 6 - 8 mm. The body of the larvae is entirely covered with numerous transverse wrinkles, and each segment of the body is equipped with rows of spines that enable them to move. The anterior parts of the larvae are pointed and endowed with a pair of mouth hooks. These hooks are black and chitinized quite strongly. And the rear parts of the larvae are equipped with a pair of spiracles (each of them has three holes) and rows of triangular denticles.
Oval puparia are 4 - 6 mm in size. At the same time, freshly formed puparia are colored in yellow-black tones, and after some time they darken and, just before the flies fly out, acquire a blackish-brown color. The anterior tips of the puparia are slightly narrowed, while the posterior ones are equipped with spiracles, which look like tiny outgrowths.
Harmful larvae overwinter in puparia in the soil. On average, the depth of their occurrence is from three to ten centimeters. The main wintering grounds for pests are areas where sugar beets were grown - about 50 - 70% of parasites are concentrated on them. They usually pupate in April, and their summer starts in May or June. High humidity can significantly accelerate the exit of flies. Flies that have flown out begin to additionally feed on flower nectar. In this case, the most preferable for them are umbrella plants. And the pests drink exclusively drip water. After six to nine days, the egg-laying process starts - eggs are laid by females in regular rows of three to six pieces on the lower surfaces of the leaves. The period of oviposition in beet mining flies is usually extended and most often ends towards the end of June, and the total fertility of females reaches fifty to one hundred eggs.
After about 3 - 6 days, tiny larvae begin to hatch from the laid eggs, making their way under the skin of the leaves and eating the parenchyma. In total, the development of larvae takes from seven to twenty days - during this time they manage to go through three whole periods. If there is not enough food, the larvae will move to other leaves, grinding numerous passages under the skin of the stems and cuttings. And when the development of the larvae is complete, they go to the upper soil layer and pupate there in puparia. And already in sixteen or eighteen days it will be possible to observe flies of the second generation.
How to fight
On buryachische it is necessary to carry out deep autumn plowing, and during the period of mass pupation of harmful larvae, it will be useful to loosen the soil in the aisles. Active weed control is no less important.
If there are a lot of beet mining flies on the site, they switch to spraying beet crops with high-quality systemic insecticides. Such drugs as "Marshal", "Rubezh" and "Decis Profi" help well in the fight against these pests.
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