The most dangerous garden pests: photos, names and breeding methods

Colorado beetle

The Colorado potato beetle is one of the most dangerous pests of nightshades. Potatoes, tomatoes, eggplants, fragrant tobacco, and wild nightshade suffer the most. There is information that sometimes the Colorado potato beetle can feed on the leaves of sweet pepper, physalis and wolfberry. Its homeland is northern Mexico, from where it spread to North America, and at the end of the 19th century to Europe. At first, the outbreaks were quickly eliminated, but during the First World War it spread throughout France, from where it began to spread throughout Eurasia. Since 2000 it has reached the Primorsky Territory.

An adult Colorado potato beetle is an insect up to 12 mm long and up to 8 mm wide. Its distinctive feature is 5 black longitudinal stripes on each wing. The pronotum is orange with black spots.

The first, yellow eggs, does not threaten the plant in any way. They are laid on the underside of the leaf of female insects immediately after potato tops or tomato seedlings or eggplants are planted in the ground. After a couple of weeks, larvae emerge from the eggs. They begin to quickly feed on nightshade leaves, turning bright orange or pink in color and gaining mass. The color depends on carotene, which accumulates in the body of the larva without being digested. The head of the larva is black, the same points are located longitudinally along the back in two rows.

In its development, the larva goes through 4 stages, molting after each of them. In the first stage they feed on part of the leaf from below, in the second they eat the entire leaf, leaving veins. They then climb onto other stems or bushes in search of food. After 2 weeks, the larvae burrow into the ground to a depth of 10 cm. There they turn into a pupa and after a couple of weeks they can emerge as adults. A new cycle of reproduction and development begins. Depending on the climate, there can be up to three such cycles. The further north the region, the fewer generations will appear per year. An adult Colorado potato beetle or pupa overwinters in the ground. Not afraid of frost. It can enter diapause without dying if conditions are unfavorable for it.

The horde of larvae leaves virtually no chance for nightshades to survive. Therefore, you need to fight it regularly:

• The most reliable are plant treatments with insecticides. You can fight them by laying out traps and collecting adult beetles every day, and then larvae, if there are a couple of acres of potatoes on the plot. But unforeseen circumstances may prevent you from doing this for several days in a row. This time will be enough for the beetles and larvae to eat all the tops. The beetles are collected in a deep bowl with a strong solution of salt or kerosene. This is an extremely unpleasant task.
• A week before harvesting potatoes, it is recommended to cut off the tops. Young larvae may die without food. But this will happen only when there is no food nearby - tomatoes, eggplant. In this case, they will all migrate to them, destroying leaves, fruits, and stems. What is especially bad is that it is much more difficult to treat a tomato area with chemicals than to treat potato tops. After all, the fruits will fall directly under the influence of the poison.
• Instead of chemicals, it is better to use Fitoverm. This is a biological drug with enteric contact action. It belongs to the third class of danger. Fruits after treatment with the drug can be collected after 2 days. And the beetles will die in a week. If it rains during this time, the effect of using Fitoverm will be significantly reduced.
• For pre-planting treatment of tubers, a long-acting insecticide is used, for example, “Prestige”. It also contains a growth stimulator. But the drug itself is very dangerous to health; working with it requires compliance with all rules for working with pesticides. Subsequent stages of care after treatment are performed mechanically, not manually.
• You can save tomatoes and eggplants for the longest possible period by dipping the roots of the seedlings into the Aktara solution for 2 hours. A package of the drug (2 g) is dissolved in 2 liters of water. Beetles, having feasted on the leaves of such plants, quickly die. The effectiveness of the method can be evidenced by insect corpses covering the surface of the earth around the plants. The leaves have time to grow, so the beetles will not cause much harm to the plant. A serious attack can begin already in the fall if the number of generations reaches three.

Prevention measures - do not plant nightshades for several years in a row in one area. Then the adult beetles will need some time in the spring to fly to a new area. But this will not save you from defeat, since the Colorado potato beetle can fly over long distances at a speed of 8 km per hour. By the way, bugs that your neighbors don't fight can quickly become your bugs.

Beetles are wood pests

Representatives that damage the bark of trees are also dangerous. They usually live inside trunks and branches, preventing them from fully developing. Let's consider popular representatives.

Bark beetles

Bark beetles (Scolytinae) are parasites whose life takes place inside trees. Even as larvae, they bore tunnels under the bark, making real passages out of the branches, which leads to their drying out. In addition, if there are bark beetles on the trees, there is a high probability that other parasites will attack it.

To prevent the development of these parasites, it is recommended to promptly remove damaged and dry branches and thin out the plantings. You can use baits that are laid out on the territory. If preventive measures do not help, then more serious methods of control will need to be used. These include treatment with the drugs “Confidor Extra”, “Koragen”, “Aktara”, “Topaz”, “Clipper”, “Kartotsid”.

Zlatki

Another widespread beetle pest of fruit crops is the borer ( Buprestidae). Most of the beetles develop on shrub and tree crops. The golden beetles are distinguished by the shiny surface of the elytra, which has various shades.

Types of borers and their larvae

It is a mistake to think that borers feed exclusively on bark. They settle on trees to lay larvae in the bark, and insects can feed on buds, pollen, and leaf blades. Depending on which tree the parasite settles on, even the names of the borers arose - pear, currant, bicolor, grape, smoky.

To fight parasites, use Confidor Extra, Coragen, and also spraying with phosphamide or karbofos (0.2% solution). It is recommended to treat not only leaves, but also trunks and soil under plantings.

Onion fly

It looks like an ordinary housefly, but is smaller in size, not exceeding 7 mm. The female lays white eggs near the bulbous plants or directly on the bulb. You can get rid of eggs by just scraping them off the plant with a knife.

It is the larvae that cause the greatest damage to the plant by eating the succulent scales. Pupation occurs in the soil, after which flies appear in July, which in turn lay new eggs.

They spoil not only bulbous vegetables, but also flowers. If you miss the appearance of the onion fly, then in a few days not only will the crop be ruined on the vine, but the soil will also be unsuitable for subsequent planting of bulbous plants.

The surest way to get rid of flies is to plant onions next to carrots, whose phytoncides act as a repellent to onion flies. Or sprinkle a mixture of shag dust and ash around the onions every seven days until the onion fly completely disappears. In the fall, the beds must be dug up to destroy the wintering pupae.

Colorado beetle

It is difficult to find a gardener who has not encountered the Colorado potato beetle; in June-July this pest can be found on almost every potato tops. The beetle is recognizable from afar due to its striped, yellow-black, rounded back.

The insect rarely reaches more than 1 cm in length. It lays about 70 eggs at a time; over the entire summer, their number can reach up to 900 eggs, from which dark gray worm-shaped larvae hatch. These larvae turn into beetles after 20 days through pupation.

They feed on young potato leaves, which is why the plant cannot fully grow tubers. In addition to potatoes, some beetles also eat leaves of tomatoes and peppers. Having destroyed one plant, the beetle moves on to the next one. It overwinters in soil about 30 cm deep.

To completely get rid of them, you need to promptly loosen, hill, and feed potatoes during the summer in order to increase their stability. After harvesting, remove all tops. Plants are sprayed with insecticides to get rid of beetles; biological products will help get rid of larvae.

May beetle (Khrushchev)

If the cockchafer itself is primarily one of the main pests of forest and fruit and berry plantings (it feeds on buds, needles and leaves of trees and shrubs), then in the garden the main problems are caused to plants by thick white insect larvae (furrows).

They live and develop in the soil for several years, all this time actively feeding on the roots and tubers of almost any herbaceous plants and trees, causing significant damage to cultural plantings - young plants die, older ones are stunted in growth.

Measures to combat the cockchafer must be an integrated approach, otherwise they will be ineffective. And this includes the indispensable mulching of the soil, and collecting beetles and larvae by hand, and planting repellent plants (clover, elderberry, lupine, etc.), and the use of both biological (Nemabact) and chemical (Antikhrushch, Zemlin) drugs.

Spider mite

The invasion of small red bugs in the garden in the ground or on the leaves of fruit trees means the appearance of spider mites in the garden plot. Their main diet consists of plant juices, which they extract from leaves and young shoots. The result of parasitism is damaged plant parts covered with a thin white cobweb.

The size of red mites is no more than 1 mm, but they live in large colonies and can cause significant damage to garden crops. The leaves begin to become stained, turn yellow, the plant becomes very weak and suffers from a lack of chlorophyll.

In the fight against insect pests of gardens in this situation, treatments with soap solution, garlic or onion infusion help. Insecticides (Aktellik, Neoron) and biological products (Fitoverm, etc.) are used as insecticides.

You need to know the enemy by sight

Various types of insects constantly attack plantings in gardens and household plots, and only effective control of them can help save the harvest. In addition, many insects that are pests of the garden and vegetable garden over time develop immunity to the pesticides and preparations used. Therefore, the methods of dealing with them have to be changed.

The photos below of garden and vegetable pest insects will help you accurately identify them and take timely measures to save the vegetation. According to their lifestyle and diet, garden pests are divided into several groups:

Below are descriptions of the most common pests in the garden.

Effective chemicals

Spring garden pest control includes the use of effective chemicals.

Table “Chemical preparations for treating plants in the garden and vegetable garden in early spring”:

The chemical poisons listed above can be used in the garden only before flowering! But at the same time, you destroy not only pests, but also your own liver.

Use biological products Iskra-bio (formerly called Agrovertin) or Fitoverm, they are obtained from soil bacteria and microfungi, and therefore are not toxic chemicals.

Instead of these chemicals, you can use the same mineral fertilizers as indicated above, but only their concentration should be 7-10 times lower, otherwise you can cause severe burns to the opening buds and buds. We can recommend spraying a green cone with a 0.7% urea solution - dissolve 70 g (3 tablespoons) of urea in 10 liters of water. But this is just in case you don’t have Fitoverm or Iskra-bio on hand.

Table “Possibility of consuming fruits and greens as food after treating plants with chemicals”:

Medvedka - an underground but flying nightmare

These insects, with durable chitinous armor and powerful front paws in the shape of a club (which is why in some regions it is called a club), live underground and feed on everything they find - roots, bulbs, potatoes. However, when necessary, mole crickets fly well.

Medvedka. (Photo used under standard license ©ogorodnye-shpargalki.ru)

In small quantities, mole cricket is even useful - it loosens the soil. But from one clutch up to 500 new insects emerge, which also want to eat. Therefore, insecticides (Grom, Rubezh, Medvegon and analogues) can be used against them, as well as traditional methods: mole crickets do not like calendula and marigolds, they love beer or honey - and they readily gather in traps.

By the way, if you know fishermen, give them the live mole crickets you caught - they will be happy: carp (carp) and even catfish are great at biting on this insect.

Aphids

Aphids are pests that live in colonies. They belong to the order Hemiptera. In total, about 4,000 species of aphids are known. Aphids cause serious damage to crop plants by sucking sap from shoots and leaves. As a result, young shoots develop incorrectly and become deformed.

Pay attention to the photo - the leaves affected by these garden pests change color, after which they wither and fall off:

In addition, aphids are also dangerous because they can be carriers and distributors of various viral diseases.

Attracting predatory insects (in particular ladybugs, predatory bugs and lacewings) to the garden is one of the most effective methods of controlling aphids.

Garden pests

We have already written in detail about the pests of each specific garden crop: about the “enemies” of potatoes, cabbage, beets, and parsley. And also about effective methods of combating them.

• All garden pests in tables with descriptions, photos and control measures

  We have compiled a “dossier” for you on each pest - save this collection!

But there are also polyphagous garden pests - insects that can damage and destroy plants from different families. Such pest beetles are the most dangerous (we agree that for the sake of brevity, under the conventional name of beneficial and harmful “bugs”, later in the article we will mean all arthropod inhabitants of the garden, specifying their species if necessary).

These are, for example, aphids - cotton and potato. They feed on plant sap, while secreting thick honeydew (honeydew), interfering with the normal functioning of plants. In addition, many of their species are capable of spreading diseases in the form of viruses and promoting the formation of various pathological anomalies (such as galls) in plants.

These are a variety of beetles. For example, the well-known potato, pumpkin and eggplant pests, the Colorado potato beetle. Or the click beetle, which is not dangerous in itself - its wireworm larvae are harmful, devouring the tubers, roots and bases of the stems of many plants. Or kravchik (bighead), which “cuts” the leaves and young shoots of corn, sunflowers and other vegetables.

This is a spider mite that covers the foliage of many vegetable crops with a thin film-web, which prevents the plant from growing and functioning normally.

These are various cutworms, holey leaves, and sometimes stems of tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, potato tubers, carrots and beets.

These are leafhoppers (slobbering pennies) that destroy the leaves and ovaries of almost all garden plants.

These are thrips, whose activity leads to withering of plants and deformation of their fruits.

These are miners that dig oblong tunnels in the leaves of legumes, cucumbers and tomatoes.

These are whiteflies - greenhouse, tobacco, etc. - whose work is visible in the beds in the form of yellowed, spotted, withered, and then fallen leaves.

This is a terrible mole cricket, from which all summer residents groan, watching how a huge insect digs tunnels in the soil in the garden, simultaneously gnawing all the underground parts of the plants encountered along the way.

• How to deal with mole crickets - effective drugs and folk remedies

  Don’t know how to get rid of mole crickets on your property? Our recipes will help you protect your garden crops from this underground pest.

Is it true that the above is already enough to seriously concern yourself with the health and safety of your garden?

Of course, harmful insects can be successfully controlled using chemical methods, but this article will discuss another possibility. Let's take a look at the “bright side of the force” and find out how you can save yourself from dangerous “bugs” with the help of their relatives - insect predators and parasites. It turns out that it is often cheaper and more effective.

Enemy No. 4 - flea beetles: what do they attack and how to fight?

Not everyone knows that miniature and almost invisible flea beetles are also considered pests of fields and vegetable gardens where white and red cabbage, radishes, radishes and turnips are grown. Having a body several millimeters in length, insects are capable of significantly harming crops by gnawing holes in the leaves and heads of crops.

They fight flea beetles by frequent watering, planting on a cloudy day and earlier than expected, choosing garlic and onions as neighbors for crops. The first signs of the appearance of fleas should be a signal for quick action. As an option, you can prepare a simple tincture of garlic, tomato leaves and a spoon of soap for spraying, or a well-known pest control agent based on dandelion roots and leaves for spraying crops.

Enemy No. 3 - whitefly: what harm does it cause and can it be destroyed?

Every summer resident knows that whiteflies are frequent garden pests, partial to a number of vegetable crops. The insect's favorite delicacy is pumpkin, cucumbers, tomatoes and squash. It is not difficult to detect whiteflies in a garden or greenhouse. Visually, these are small insects with a yellow body, two pairs of wings with a characteristic white waxy coating.

Whitefly larvae are pale green in color with an oval body, a small pile of hair and threads at the base of the abdomen. Adult females leave oviposition on the underside of the leaves in the shape of a ring. The larvae suck the juice from the leaves and contaminate them with excrement. The result is sooty fungus on the surface of the leaf and the death of the plant over time.

Chemical preparations considered to be the most effective against whiteflies are: “Aktofit”, “Gaupsin”, “Vermicide”.

How to deal with harmful insects

In the southern regions there are also types of pests, and their number is disproportionately greater than in the northern ones, so, as they say, there would be no luck, but misfortune helped: the North-West is a zone of risky agriculture, it is bad in our climate not only for plants, but also their pests.

Certain types of pests feed on the juices of plants of only one species - the feeder plant, or, as it is usually called in the relevant literature, the host plant for a given pest. But there are also omnivorous pests that eat everything they can find, although they have their own preferences, for example, aphids, slugs, snails, grasshoppers and especially locusts.

It is important to know when all these insects and mites are most vulnerable to treatment so that the treatment will cause the least harm to the rest of the community in your garden. There is also a whole group of pests that overwinter inside plants: gall midges, glass bugs, currant bud mites, raspberry fly larvae

There is also a whole group of pests that overwinter inside plants: gall midges, glass bugs, currant bud mites, and raspberry fly larvae.

They are especially difficult to control because these pests are virtually impossible to reach using chemicals.

Need to collect:

• mite-infested buds by hand or even cut out entirely heavily infested blackcurrant stems;
• raspberry stems with thickened galls;
• drying blackcurrant stems affected by glassworm;
• drooping young raspberry shoots containing the raspberry fly larva.

All this must be burned immediately, before the pests come out and spread throughout the garden. Bushes heavily infested with pests, in particular bud mites, must be dug up and burned before the pests infest neighboring bushes.

In the spring, as soon as the soil thaws, it is useful to place trapping belts on apple and pear trees made of corrugated cardboard, into which the caterpillars crawl, moving up the trunk. The top edge of the cardboard must be bent back like a roof; the caterpillars cannot crawl over such an obstacle. Hunting belts are changed a couple of times a season and burned along with the pests lurking there. It is easier to use a fishing belt made of plastic film: the lower edge is tied around the trunk closer to the soil like a skirt, and the upper edge is folded back like an umbrella. You can leave this belt on all summer long. Pests will not be able to crawl over the folded top edge.

There is a simple, well-known way to get rid of pests overwintering in the soil, but for some reason gardeners use it extremely rarely, and in vain.

It is necessary in early spring, as soon as the snow melts, to immediately cover the soil under the plantings with dark material. It can be black film, black spunbond or lutrasil, cardboard or just newspapers in 4-5 layers. It is necessary to cover all the soil under the plant from the trunk itself to the perimeter of the crown. Pests will not be able to exit through such shelter to the surface and will die. But there is one very important moment. We must give our helpers - beneficial insects - the opportunity to come to the surface in time. And since they emerge from their wintering places during flowering, carefully monitor the beginning of flowering of each plant in your garden and immediately remove the decomposed covering from under it.

Pests have long adapted to many of the pesticides sold, so you are poisoning yourself, not the pests, by using them in your garden, especially since almost all gardeners neglect the rules and do not protect themselves (cloak, gloves, hat, glasses, respirator) during chemical treatment plants.

Chemical methods of pest control

Chemical methods and means make it possible to physically destroy all insects within the radius of action of the drug used. Some products may have a prolonged effect, due to which they will repel parasites that reappear on your territory after treatment. The presence of such a function will be indicated on the insecticide label.

From blood-sucking pests

• Dobrohim Phos
• GET (Get) for ticks
• Acarocide
• Acaritox
• Gardex concentrate
• Anti-tick products Dr.Klaus
• Protecting the area from Green Belt ticks
• Medilis-Ziper
• Cifox
• Breeze

From soil pests

• Aktara
• Confidor
• Terradox
• Metarizin
• Grizzly
• Medvegon
• Initiative
• Barguzin
• Zemlin
• Vallar

From plant pests

• Rayok
• Akarin
• Aliot
• Kinmiks
• Trap
• Corado
• Aktara
• Green soap
• Iskra M
• Alatar

From pests living in water

• Chlorophoska
• Xulat
• Dobrokhim Micro
• Avicin
• Maxifos
• Averfos

When choosing chemical methods of pest control, follow the instructions for use of the selected product and use protective equipment:

• Eye mask.
• Respirator for respiratory organs.
• Gloves and rubber boots.
• Cover with closed clothing to prevent chemicals from coming into contact with your skin.

In order to make self-processing not only effective, but also safe:

• Warn your neighbors about the treatment in advance so that they are not harmed by the sprayed preparations.
• Use high-quality sprinklers to prevent chemicals from dripping from the nozzle and joints of the structure in large drops.
• Carry out the treatment in dry, calm weather, when the forecast for the next 3-4 days does not suggest rain.
• Spraying can be done at any time when the ground is not covered with snow, but the greatest effect can be achieved if you spray the area in early spring and again in late autumn.

If you need to get rid of all pests at once in 1 day, but you do not want to waste your time on this, and you do not want to jeopardize your health by trying to use toxic chemicals yourself, you can order treatment of the area from parasites at SES "Des Group" certified by Rospotrebnadzor with more than 13 years of experience in the sanitary services market in Moscow and the Moscow region.

• Treatment can be complex, directed against a group of pests or a single type of parasite.
• The work uses modern, certified products that are completely safe for people and the environment, when used professionally and you follow the exterminator’s recommendations for maintaining the area after the procedure.
• All services are provided under a contract, the guarantee is recorded in the documents.
• The visit of a team of specialists can be scheduled on a day convenient for you or it can be urgent.

Calculator

Calculate the cost of exterminating insects on the site

SES "Des Group" provides pest control services for individuals, companies and organizations.
You can order pest control for an area of ​​any purpose and size. The exact cost of services depends on the area of ​​the site, the processing method and many other parameters and is calculated individually. For companies and organizations, service is possible on the basis of long-term contracts. You can find out how much the pest control service will cost you by ordering a call back from the website or dialing the SES number yourself. The price will be given to you during the first telephone conversation, immediately after the Dez Group consultant receives more detailed information from you about your problem and needs.

What are the main pests of cultivated bulbous plants?

What other insect pests of cultivated plants cause enormous damage to garden plantings?

The root-knot nematode is one of the main pests of plants, including violas and daffodils. It is a microscopic worm, invisible to the naked eye. Adult males are up to 1.5 mm long, their body shape is thread-like. The females of these pests of garden plants have a pear-shaped body up to 1.3 mm long. The female lays up to 400 eggs. The larvae develop in galls - swellings on the roots of plants. Roots damaged by root-knot nematodes are unable to provide the plant with sufficient nutrition and water. Plants are stunted and do not bloom. Often the roots rot due to pathogenic organisms entering the galls. From the galls, the pests move into the soil and penetrate into the small roots of other plants, which also stop growing, turn yellow and often die. The root-knot nematode spreads better on light soils. Pests also cause great losses to bulbous plants. The larvae feed on the juice of leaves and stems, and then move into the bulb. It softens, and brown rings are visible on the cross section, the so-called “ring rot.” Affected plants become smaller, the leaves turn yellow and swellings are visible on them. Plant development is delayed, they bloom poorly, and if severely damaged, they die. These pests of bulbous plants penetrate healthy planting material when planted in contaminated soil, as well as during storage. If the damage reaches the bottom and spreads to the remaining scales, the bulb dies.

Thrips hover like a cloud over their favorite “food” - gladioli and irises, leaving silvery spots on the flowers and leaves. The buds bloom poorly, and if the damage is severe, the inflorescence does not form at all. Hot and dry summers are favorable for pest reproduction. During a season, up to 9 generations of thrips develop in the southern regions. The pest can also damage planting material located in storage. Thrips are especially active at temperatures above 10 °C. A sign of thrips damage is shiny scabs on corms, bulbs or tubers. Thrips, when there are a lot of them, can cause great harm and even destroy planting material during storage. Thrips damages irises, gladioli, clematis, roses, and less commonly dahlias and other crops. Small insects, about 1.5 mm long, barely visible to the naked eye, cause significant damage to garden plants. Thrips settle in the leaf axils. The upper surface of the leaves, damaged by many injections, acquires a silvery sheen. When there is a large concentration of pests, the leaves become covered with small black specks of insect excrement. As a result of severe damage, the leaves turn yellow, dry out and fall off, which has a detrimental effect on the development of the entire plant, the formation of peduncles and flowers.

Medvedka (top, cabbage, earthen crayfish). The pest poses a serious threat to tulips and gladioli; it is not averse to gnawing on the bulbs of other flowers. It is also dangerous for irises, especially in the southern regions. It can completely destroy newly planted summer seedlings.

Pay attention to the photo - this insect pest of plants reaches a length of 3.5 to 5 cm:

It has wings, strong movable horny jaws, strong front claws equipped with a serrated file to make it easier to dig passages in the ground. When moving in one direction, the saw-tooth file folds and forms a sharp spear, and in the other direction it opens to a certain angle like a saw blade and cuts the soil, and with it roots, tubers, and bulbs. The pest easily travels underground, swims quickly in water and flies through the air. Crawling out to the surface of the ground, it moves quite quickly. The insect's "uniform" is durable and waterproof. The pest has a very subtle sense of smell. The mole cricket causes the greatest damage on loose, fertilized soils and in warm areas, where it can reproduce in huge numbers.

Colorado beetle

The bright orange body of adults reaches 9–12 mm. in length. It is highly convex and shiny. There are dark spots on the head and pronotum. The Colorado potato beetle overwinters in the adult insect stage. As soon as the soil warms up to 15 degrees at a depth of 25-30 cm, the beetles come to the surface. They look for water and greedily absorb it. Only after this the Colorado potato beetles begin to feed intensively. After a month, the female beetle lays eggs on the inside of the leaf. Its fertility per season is 600 eggs. Depending on the temperature and humidity, larvae appear on days 6–17 and eat the leaves of the crops.

To protect crops from the Colorado potato beetle, plant dill, marigolds, mint or garlic next to them, and legumes between the rows. You can also use “Koragen”, “Aktar” and “Korado”.

Infusion of elecampane roots against the Colorado potato beetle

Among the folk recipes, an infusion of elecampane roots is used against the Colorado potato beetle.

Take 100 g of dry elecampane roots, pour 10 liters of boiling water and leave for a day in a closed bucket. Spray in dry weather. During the summer season, 3 treatments are carried out.

You can alternate treating potato plantings against the Colorado potato beetle and its larvae with the drug “Bitoxibacillin” (This is a biological insecticidal drug that is used at any phase of plant development).

The use of ammonia against the Colorado potato beetle

Take 0.5 l. ammonia and dilute in 10 liters. water. To stir thoroughly. Spray the potato beds with this solution. Treatment is carried out early in the morning. The procedure is repeated after 10-14 days in dry weather.

Medvedka

A distinctive feature is the wide pronotum and short antennae. Its modified forelimbs are well adapted to digging and moving around in the soil.

Body length reaches 50 mm. dark brown above and yellow-brown below with a silky sheen. The Latin name translates to mole cricket. In early spring you can hear the sound. Reminiscent of the chirping of a grasshopper. It is the male mole cricket that attracts the female for mating with his unique singing. The female's nest resembles a chamber the size of a chicken egg. The female lays up to 200-300 eggs in small groups in the nest.

An earthen pest that feeds on crop roots, earthworms and insect larvae. The mole cricket settles in fertile fields with moist peat soils.

Measures to combat the mole cricket

• Prepare a decoction of onion peels: add a kilogram of onion peels to 10 liters of water and leave for 5 days. Then dilute with water in a ratio of 1:5. Water the plant with the resulting solution a couple of times a week. For better results, you can also plant marigolds;
• It has been established that mole crickets cannot tolerate the smell of chrysanthemums, so it is recommended to bury the stems and leaves of chrysanthemums in the soil. The mole cricket leaves the site;
• take the remedy against the Colorado potato beetle and dilute it strictly in 1 liter. water. Soak 1 kg. pea halves and leave to soak for 12 hours (the peas absorb liquid). in the spring, scatter around the area in places where mole crickets appear;
• Ammonia also works well against mole crickets. You need to take 10-15 ml. ammonia and dilute in 10 liters. water. When planting seedlings, 0.5 liters must be added to each bush. solution. The mole cricket will not touch the seedlings.

Insect parasites of Trichogramma

These are small (less than 1 mm long) parasitic insects of the family Trichogrammatidae of the order Hymenoptera. In total there are more than 200 species.

As you can see in the photo, the body of these insects useful for the garden is dense, wide, yellow, black or brown:

Trichogramma have short club-shaped antennae, with ringlets at the base of the first segment of the flagellum.

Adults feed on flower nectar. Trichogramma destroy insects by laying their eggs in the eggs, larvae and body of adult pests. Trichogramma larvae, which develop in the egg, pupate in it, after which adult individuals fly out of the pest egg.

Trichogramma are entomophagous insects. Trichogramma vulgaris is bred in biological laboratories using grain moth eggs. Trichogramma is used to protect cultivated plants from lepidopteran pests. In addition, Trichogramma is also used for biological protection against codling moth, cabbage moth and other “uninvited guests” in the garden.

Since Trichogramma is used mainly to protect trees from the codling moth, this entomophage, bred in laboratory conditions, is released into the garden near apple and pear trees. In order for Trichogramma to take root in a new place, coriander, dill, lettuce, cilantro, horseradish, fennel, and celery are planted in advance.

These entomophages are bred to protect plants as follows. Special bowls are placed at the bottom of a wooden box, called a vivarium, which has a glazed front wall and a sleeve (it is made of thick, dark-colored fabric). Inside the box there are 4 glass shelves. The bowls are placed near the back wall of the structure and sitotrog eggs are poured into them, from which the trichogramma should appear. Each shelf is slightly moistened, after which the egg sieve is poured onto the surface of the egg, then pushed into the grooves towards the front wall.

The vivarium is installed with the front wall facing the light, but so that direct sunlight does not fall into it. After some time, Trichogramma females will accumulate at the front wall of the box and colonize the Sitotroga eggs placed in it.

This selection of photos presents beneficial insects, the names and descriptions of which you have read on this page:

The most useful insects are ladybugs (with pictures)

Ladybugs are rightfully considered one of the most useful insects. They are well known to everyone since childhood. Ladybugs have a medium-sized body with bright colors. The ladybug belongs to the order Coleoptera. There are over 5,000 species of this entomophage in the world.

These are round beetles, the body length is 4-9 mm. These insects are very useful on the site, as they destroy many herbivorous arthropods - aphids, mites, whiteflies, scale insects, thrips. Ladybug larvae feed on aphids. In addition, ladybugs feed on small larvae and eggs of butterflies and beetles. The most common types of these predatory insects are: Cryptolemus, Cycloneda, Leisdimidiata and Propylaea fourteenspot.

Cryptolemus is native to Eastern Australia. This is an entomophagous pest with a dark brown body, 4 mm long. Both beetles and larvae feed on eggs, larvae and adults of pests. The insect is bred in laboratory conditions.

Cryptolemus is commonly used against mealybugs. To do this, larvae and beetles are released into the pest outbreaks. Cryptolemus predators are most active in sunny weather. If there are few scale insects, entomophagous insects are released at a rate of two individuals per 1 m2 with a frequency of once every 2 weeks.

Cycloneda is another type of ladybug. The insect feeds mainly on aphids. The elytra of the cyclonedae are painted in a bright cherry color, the pronotum is black. The insect's homeland is Cuba. Cyclonedae larvae are used as a “live insecticide”.

They are released into pest outbreaks. Cycloneda protects cucumbers well from melon aphids.

Leisdimidiates and propylaea fourteenpoints. Leisdimidia beetles and larvae feed on many species of aphids, as well as lepidopteran eggs. The larvae are usually released into greenhouses.

Propylaea fourteen-spotted is used to kill aphids and thrips.

As you can see in the picture, these pest insects are bright yellow in color with a characteristic pattern on the back:

Adult beetles can reproduce for a long time in greenhouses.

Since the females of this insect have high search abilities, they are released to protect seedlings when the first outbreaks of aphids appear.

It is not necessary to buy ladybugs for pest control in a specialized store. You can attract them to your site in the following way.

Firstly, you can build houses for these entomophages, which will undoubtedly benefit not only gardening plants, but also decorate the area. Externally, such a “dwelling” resembles a birdhouse. It is necessary to place nutritional or pheromone bait inside the houses for ladybugs. Secondly, dill, yarrow or tansy should be grown on the site, since these plants attract ladybugs. For the same purpose, you don’t have to get rid of the nettles growing along the fence.

Thirdly, it is strongly recommended to maintain biological balance in the area - use chemicals to combat pests only in the rarest cases, when other natural remedies are no longer effective.

We remove the bear on our own

One of the most harmful insects is the mole cricket. It destroys both young and adult plants. If seedlings die individually in the open ground, despite sufficient watering and consumption of sunlight, then, most likely, this earthen cancer has appeared in the garden.

It is very difficult to calculate for sure whether this pest is in your garden. In its habitats you can see small holes or tubercles, reminiscent of mole tracks on the surface of the earth. This is an amazing insect, it can fly, crawl and even swim. It becomes more active in the late afternoon, and during sunset you can hear characteristic sounds like chirping grasshoppers. A mole cricket may appear in a particular area completely by accident, choosing it for its permanent residence.

Manure heaps and compost pits serve as a place for mole crickets to lay eggs; they are warm and have enough food. However, under a simple dry bed, it can also feel good, feeding on the roots of vegetable crops. Despite their medical benefits, they are a real disaster for the gardener; to get rid of them you need to approach the matter responsibly, otherwise a large amount of the crop will perish, and next year there will be much more of them.

Traditional methods of breeding mole crickets

Without resorting to chemical methods, you can use folk advice. The kapustyanka, as summer residents also call it, loves to huddle in manure; it is attracted to manure heaps, in which they lay eggs and remain for the winter. By using traps made from this fertilizer, you can significantly reduce the number of insects or get rid of them completely.

At the end of the season, several holes about 50 cm deep are dug in the area and manure is poured into them. As soon as the temperature drops significantly, you can dig up the contents and scatter them in those places on the surface where necessary so as not to waste the fertilizer. In order not to think and guess when to do all this, it is better to focus on the snow. With the first snow you can go check the traps. Although it is not necessary to check, having pulled everything out of the recesses, the mole cricket will simply freeze, because it is in a dream, it will not find a new place.

In the spring, you can place traps throughout the area, scattering piles of manure 2-3 shovels deep. It is necessary to make embankments as often as possible, at a distance from each other from 2 to 4 meters. Before checking the traps, you should wait at least three days so that this earthen crayfish has time to reach it and understand that this is its new home.

If you find a possible mole cricket hole, you can pour water into it with the addition of a small amount of oil. A solution of soapy water is also suitable for this case. She will get to the surface or die without crawling out into the light. The mole cricket is also afraid of the smell of pine needles, kerosene and rotten fish; of all the above, the most pleasant option is definitely the first.

Insecticides against mole crickets in the garden

There is also a chemical method of exposure, but it is not as simple as the previous ones. The Metaphos drug is added to corn or wheat porridge with oil, and then laid out under the same traps with manure or under the beds at a shallow depth. The method is effective, but not very convenient, because when planting in a garden bed, you don’t really want to think and bother about digging to place the poisoned porridge, especially since this needs to be done more often than simple dung blendes.

It’s up to the gardener to decide everything, because besides Metaphos there are other poisonous drugs, but they all require a careful and thoughtful approach

Using such products can harm the crop, you should always remember this and use it with caution

How to get rid of woodlice and two-wort in the garden?

Twotails and woodlice live only where it is damp and dark, if it is daytime. They go hunting at night, so only after sunset can their numbers be assessed. Often, earwigs crawl into the house and can no longer get out, this does not mean that they are more comfortable indoors. On the contrary, they don’t really like being neighbors with a person, because for them there is no food in a clean and tidy house. They crawl in by accident, but this is a sign for humans, which means that the local area is the home of these insects. They hide under porches, in debris, in foundation cracks, or anywhere close to the front door.

Perhaps rainwater from your roof is flowing very close to your home, creating ideal conditions for humidity lovers. In this case, it is necessary to build a drainage system that will remove the collected drops away from the building.

All kinds of rubbish, garbage containers, broken bricks or stones, deposits of various items should be put in a special place or away from the front door and windows. Cracks and crevices are sealed to prevent possible entry for two-wests.

Woodlice are less common in an apartment or house; their favorite places are stumps, rotting tops, and rotten boards, which summer residents use as paths between garden beds. By lifting one such board, you can see what types of insects predominantly live on the site. Only those who are accustomed to increased dampness will be there. Woodlice can appear in a bathroom or shower stall for the same reasons - high humidity and the presence of places to hide.

Traditional methods

Getting rid of earwigs and woodlice is very simple using the most common method. You need to find places where they accumulate and go out on a real hunt, after boiling the kettle. Hot water leaves no chance to survive, so the population will decrease significantly if you walk through all such places. After treatment with boiling water, you can sprinkle the found dwellings with salt so that no one returns there again.

Insecticides

Tetrix and Dichlorvos copes well with insects . They must be used according to the instructions, because they are sold in different forms and packaging. Boric acid also helps, which must be mixed with water and sprayed with this solution at particularly likely places where parasites appear.