2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Wheat fly is found literally everywhere in Russia. According to a number of its characteristics, it is similar to a spring fly, therefore they are often confused, mistakenly mistaking a wheat fly for a spring fly. The gluttonous larvae of the wheat fly are especially harmful, as a result of the destructive activity of which the central leaves turn yellow and quickly dry out, and the weakened and suppressed shoots begin to gradually die off. And if the larvae managed to damage spring crops even before they entered the tillering phase, then often the plants die entirely
Meet the pest
Wheat fly adults grow in size from 4 to 5.2 mm. The wings of these pests are smoky and dark, and the cheekbones and breasts are poorly powdered with brownish pollen.
The length of the white ellipsoidal eggs of the wheat fly is about 1.2 mm. The larvae of the last (third) instar grow up to 6 - 8 mm in length, and their color can vary from white to yellowish. As for the shape of their body, it is almost cylindrical. And the size of brown, straw-yellow or black-brown puparia is approximately 4.5 - 5.5 mm.
Wheat flies overwinter at the puparium stage in the stalks of winter cereals or at a depth of two to three centimeters in the soil. Pests pupate towards the end of February or at the beginning of March. Flies fly out very early, approximately in the first half of April, about a week or two earlier than Swedish flies. Wheat flies fly at the same time as spring flies. Some time later, the females begin to lay eggs on the side shoots of slightly bushy winter crops or in the axils of the leaves of plants that are not particularly bushy. Egg development lasts from two to eight days. The larvae hatched from them make their way into the shoots and make bizarre spiral passages there towards the embryos of ears or to the cones of growth. At the same time, on their way, they eat with appetite all the most delicate plant tissues.
Harmful larvae develop for twenty to thirty days, and at the end of their development, they begin to form numerous puparia in the surface soil layer. Slightly less often, such puparia can be seen on damaged stems. Around the end of August, as well as throughout September, flies of the second generation fly out of most puparia. And a small part of the voracious larvae continues to remain in them until next spring.
Wheat flies of the autumn generation, along with spring flies, quickly colonize the seedlings of winter crops. Developing on young seedlings, they cause damage to growing crops identical to the damage caused by spring flies as a result of their harmful activity. And the larvae that have finished feeding again form puparia and go for wintering, this time in the fallen stalks. Wheat fly development usually takes place in two generations.
How to fight
Deep fall plowing and post-harvest stubble plowing are the main preventive measures in the fight against wheat flies. You should try to sow winter crops at the optimum late date.
If the number of unsightly parasites is especially high, then the marginal crop stripes begin to be treated with insecticides. The first treatment is usually carried out at the start of the mass summer of wheat flies, and the subsequent ones - with an interval of eight to ten days. In order to protect winter crops, seeds are also treated with insecticides. Such insecticide as "Kruiser" is well suited for pre-sowing seed treatment.
Spring crops during the growing season in case of mass summer wheat flies can be treated with the preparation "Eforia". However, it is necessary to keep within with the treatments with this tool before the fourth leaf appears. The preparation called "Rogor" also proved itself to be excellent for spring crops. It is allowed to use such means as "Shar Pei", "Sirocco", "Taboo" or "Break".
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