Which insect larvae can leave you without a harvest?

May beetle (Khrushchev) and its furrow larvae

If you find large, thick white larvae in the ground in your beds, most likely these are the offspring of the cockchafer. The May beetles themselves (they are also called Khrushchev) are familiar to every child - they are large brown-brown insects with a hairy body and legs. Their mass emergence is observed in the spring, and at the very beginning of June the females lay eggs, preferring compost heaps or beds with sandy or sandy loam soil, from which the larvae hatch.

It is not difficult to recognize these pests by sight - the larvae of the cockchafer are large (up to 6 cm), thick, yellow-white, with a rounded reddish-red head and three pairs of legs in the front, always as if “curved” in the letter C.

The larva of the May beetle, unfortunately, can easily be confused with the larva of the rhinoceros beetle found in the south of the country, which looks almost the same, but can be even larger. This beetle itself is protected in many territories, and its larvae are practically harmless to the gardener, because. They feed only on decaying plant matter and can damage the roots of cultivated plants only by accident.

Although the adult May beetles themselves also feed on the leaves, buds and flowers of various trees and shrubs, it is their voracious larvae that cause particular trouble in the garden. They live in the soil, develop over 3-5 years, and during this time they are capable of causing significant damage to more than one crop, devouring the roots and tubers of almost any plant at a very decent speed.

How to get rid of cockchafer larvae? It is quite difficult - an integrated approach is important here, since the use of any one method often turns out to be ineffective. First of all, the larvae are collected by hand, and the soil must be mulched. Modern insecticides (Antikhrushch, Bazudin, Zemlin) are applied to the ridges. Plants that repel pests (clover, elderberry, lupine, etc.) are also planted on the site. The biological drug Nemabact is also used, which is safe for humans and the environment.

• May beetle: which plants are threatened and how to deal with its larvae

  The appearance of cockchafers in the garden is not a harmless sight, but a serious problem. Don't let pests destroy your plants!

Links[edit]

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13. "Types of insect larvae". Agri info. Archived from the original on May 14, 2016. Retrieved April 28, 2016.

Colorado potato beetle and its larvae

The well-known American immigrant, the Colorado potato beetle with its larvae is rightfully considered one of the most dangerous pests of vegetable crops of the Solanaceae family. Elegant striped adult insects and their bright red larvae with a dark head and black legs can literally gnaw away plants, leaving them without leaves, and you without a harvest of potatoes, tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, vegetable physalis...

Because Colorado potato beetle larvae have two rows of dark spots on their sides, some people mistakenly believe they are ladybug larvae. Don’t be confused - the latter are gray in color, “spiny” with orange spots, and also bring great benefits to agriculture, destroying large quantities of dangerous pests such as aphids, psyllids, scale insects and mites.

Colorado beetles overwinter deep in the soil, and in the spring they come out and begin to actively devour the first greenery. The female lays eggs continuously, from spring to autumn - bright orange clutches can be easily found on the underside of the leaves. The hatched larvae, like their parents, have an excellent appetite.

It is not easy to fight the Colorado potato beetle and its larvae - these pests show high resistance to poisons and quickly develop immunity to them, and are also poisonous to most birds and animals.

Natural enemies of the Colorado potato beetle, which are not afraid of its poison, are guinea fowl, pheasants and turkeys, and among insects - tachinas, ground beetles, hoverflies, lacewings and ladybugs. Pest control measures using certain entomophagous parasites are also being studied.

Therefore, again, the best choice would be an integrated approach. It includes manual collection of beetles with larvae and their destruction outside the site, abundant planting of strong-smelling plants in the garden (calendula, lemon balm, basil, mint, dill, coriander, onion, garlic), and the use of systemic insecticides.

Among the folk methods of combating beetles and larvae, the use of onion peels and tar is effective, the smell of which these insects also cannot tolerate. The crushed husks along with the ash are placed in the planting holes. Tar is used as part of a water-soap solution that is used to spray plantings.

• Colorado potato beetle - not easy to get rid of, but possible

  Operation Colorado Beetle: find and neutralize!

Cocoons of fictional creatures

• The alien from the movie "Arachnid" covered the victim with a cocoon, in which the larva fed on the semi-digested victim. The other cocoon was used by him for sleeping.
• Aliens often turn victims into cocoons and leave them next to their eggs.
• The cocoons contained vampires in the films Van Helsing (the stillborn offspring of Dracula) and The Shepherd (during transport by train).
• Cocoons are devices from the film of the same name and its sequel, in which the aliens were in a state of suspended animation.
• Mogwai, creatures from the films Gremlins and Gremlins 2: The New Batch, pupate before transforming into .
• Cocoon is an alien spaceship from the movie Earthling.

Mole cricket and its larvae

The terrifying appearance of the burrowing mole cricket beetle is familiar to many gardeners - a large brown, big-eyed insect with claws for digging the ground. And the harm these insidious creatures bring to the site is undeniable - they feed on earthworms and root crops, actively gnawing the roots of cultivated plants during their underground movements, and multiply quickly.

Most often, an inexperienced summer resident can bring a mole cricket to the site along with manure or compost, which these insects also do not disdain as a food product.

But what does a mole cricket larva look like and is it dangerous for the garden? Female mole crickets make nests underground where they lay hundreds of eggs. Hatching larvae have a body shape very similar to an adult insect, only much smaller and lighter, and at first they do not have eyes. They develop over several years, are less mobile than adults, and have weaker jaws, but they eat the same things: small roots, bulbs, worms, plant seeds, and small insect larvae.

Despite the fact that the mole cricket is mainly an underground dweller, it flies and swims beautifully, so it is not easy to catch and destroy it. What to do? Use several methods of pest control at once - both folk and “official”.

Plant marigolds, calendula, chrysanthemums, parsley, onions, and garlic in the garden - their pungent smell is unpleasant to insects. Pour infusion of onion peels or soapy water into the discovered holes made by mole crickets in the ground, or add calcium carbide (after rain it will react chemically with water, releasing acetylene gas, which is poisonous to insects). Use proven chemicals (Medvetox, Antimedvedka, Medvetsid, Rembek, Boverin, Fenaxin Plus, etc.).

• 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.

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Spider cocoons

For eggs

The spider's web was intended primarily for protection. Most types of cocoons have two layers: the inner layer is softer, the outer layer is stronger. The cocoon contains from 2 to 1000 eggs depending on the species. The fewer eggs in the cocoon, the more cocoons each spider creates.

For the victims

When approaching a victim caught in a web, spiders behave differently. Some bite the victim, paralyzing it, others quickly wrap the victim in a tight cocoon so that it cannot move. This is done due to the fact that sometimes the spider is much inferior in size and strength to its victim. He comes later, when the victim weakens or stops resisting.

For posterity

It’s amazing and touching how wandering spiders show care for their offspring. Many, obviously, had to see female wolf spiders running away from under their feet at the beginning of summer, with a soft round lump firmly attached to their abdomen. Not everyone knows that this is a cocoon containing many (several dozen) spider eggs. For many weeks, the spider carries a cocoon with her. The rate of development of embryos depends on the temperature of the external environment (air). With an increase in temperature of 10 degrees, the rate of egg incubation approximately doubles. Therefore, the spider, which usually prefers damp, shaded places, during the period of gestation of the cocoon, looks for open areas that are most warmed by the sun. By evening, due to the evaporation of water from the body, the weight of the already miniature animal is reduced by almost half! But only after sunset the female leaves the solarium, satisfying her thirst and gaining normal weight mainly due to dew. And the next morning, back in the sunshine, weather permitting. And the spider subjects itself to such voluntary torture for 2, 3 weeks.

Click beetle and its larvae (wireworms)

Graceful click beetles themselves do not cause harm to garden plantings, since the vast majority of their species do not feed at all as adults. But their larvae, developing in the soil, are serious pests of agricultural crops. They actively eat the roots, tubers and bases of the stems of potatoes, grapes, radishes, lettuce, cabbage, daikon and other plants, which wither and die due to damage.

Click beetle larvae received their second name “wireworms” (or wireworms) for their elongated body with hard, shiny cover from light yellow to dark brown color.

Measures to combat wireworms are different. You regularly need to dig up the soil on the site (especially in late autumn, when the larvae die when exposed to the cold) and plant green manure plants. When planting, spill the soil with a solution of potassium permanganate or embed the already familiar onion peel or mustard powder into it. Arrange traps with roots or young leaves. Treat the plantings with Bazudin (granules are scattered over the beds at the rate of 10-15 g per 10 sq.m).

• 10 ways to deal with wireworms

  Find out what wireworm looks like and how to effectively fight it.

Dream Interpretation, Insects

That which flies, buzzes, stings, rummages, bites, distracts and is generally perceived as trivial, insignificant, annoying, capable of causing only minor troubles and, nevertheless, creating quite sensitive interference. In general, insects are not strong (not deep), but repeated or obsessive sensations, thoughts, feelings that can lead to disharmony, deprive of peace and confidence. The appearance of insects in a dream can indicate troubles in the future, illnesses and minor mental disharmonies. Often individual insects (ant, butterfly, bee...) act exclusively in a creative role (for example, lice or fleas for receiving money, and a butterfly for meeting a loved one).

Pest butterflies and their caterpillars

Butterflies that seem cute at first glance and flutter around the garden can also turn out to be malicious pests. Whiteflies, cutworms, whiteflies, hawthorns, moths, moths - their caterpillars (butterflies do not have a larval stage) can significantly damage your crop. Some of them specialize in legumes, others prefer cruciferous or rose beans, others willingly settle on gooseberries and currants, and still others choose cereals. And they all actively gnaw on young parts of plants (leaves, roots, fruits), choosing for this, as a rule, the night time.

To reduce their harmfulness, measures will have to be taken. Namely:

• promptly destroy weeds (especially flowering ones) that can become a “home” for butterflies;
• during the period of egg laying and caterpillar hatching, regularly deep loosen the soil between the rows, and also do not forget about deep autumn digging of the site;
• during the mass summer, use bowls with beer or jam to catch butterflies;
• to repel insects, place pegs in the garden, wrapped at the ends with rags soaked in undiluted birch tar;
• spray the plantings with a water-tar solution (for 10 liters of water - 2 tablespoons of tar and 20 g of soap shavings) or wormwood infusion (for 10 liters of boiling water - 300 g of crushed wormwood, 1 cup of wood ash and 1 tablespoon of liquid soap – leave for 5-6 hours);
• use biological products (for example, Lepidocide or Bitoxibacillin), release Trichogramma predators into the area;
• in case of mass damage, use chemicals (Decis, Arrivo, etc.).

Notes

1. ↑ 1 2 3 Bey-Bienko G. Ya. General entomology. - stereotypical. - M.: Prospekt Nauki, 2008. - 486 p. — ISBN 978-5-903090-13-6.
2. ↑ 1 2 Animal life. Arthropods: trilobites, chelicerates, trachea-breathers. Onychophora / ed. Gilyarova M. S., Pravdina F. N. - 2nd, revised. - M.: Education, 1984. - T. 3. - 463 p.
3. ↑ Biological encyclopedic dictionary / ch. ed. M. S. Gilyarov, editor: A. A. Babaev, G. G. Vinberg, G. A. Zavarzin and others. - 2nd ed. - M.: Sov. Encyclopedia, 1986.

This page was last edited on April 5, 2019 at 07:15.

"Vegetable" flies and their larvae

The so-called “vegetable” flies (cabbage flies, carrot flies, onion flies, etc.) are also terrible in the garden and vegetable garden, no longer in the adult state, but in the larval stage. In the spring, insects lay hundreds of eggs, from which larvae hatch and begin to actively feed on root crops and young parts of plants (carrot fly larvae, accordingly, specialize in carrots, onion fly larvae - in onions, and so on, although they do not disdain neighboring crops). Affected plants turn yellow, rot and die. After about a month, the larvae pupate in the ground and soon give rise to a new generation of pest flies.

Control measures for fly larvae include uprooting and immediate destruction of yellowed plants. If the number of larvae is very large, it is worth using specialized insecticides.

The main fight against these insects lies in timely prevention of their appearance on the site. This is the choice of varieties that are resistant to this pest, the refusal of fresh manure as fertilizer, mulching the beds, the use of onion peels, a water-tar solution or tobacco leaves as deterrents, and compliance with crop rotation.

• How to save crops from carrot flies

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When digging up beds or caring for plants in the garden, be attentive to any crawling little things. What if a massive invasion is already being prepared for your harvest? Then it’s urgent time to take action!

Types of insect development

In all representatives of this class, the newborn individual differs significantly from adults. This type of development is called indirect. But in different groups of insects it can occur with complete or incomplete transformation. Often the larva and the adult differ not only in appearance, but also in their methods of life. Thus, the butterfly larva feeds on green foliage, and the adult on flower nectar. Insects, which are characterized by incomplete metamorphosis, lead the same lifestyle at all stages of development.

The term transformation itself means the presence of a larval stage in the process of individual development. Only insect ontogenesis can occur in different ways.

Mosquito breeding

There are four main development cycles in the life of these insects:

1. An egg that matures in 2 to 8 days
2. A blood-sucking larva that lives in water bodies and feeds on microorganisms found in it. The larvae breathe air using special breathing tubes. During their entire development, the larvae molt 4 times, and after that they turn into a pupa,
3. Development of the pupa, which lasts up to 5 days. As the pupa grows, it changes color and becomes black.
4. The imago stage, which implies an adult insect that already lives on land.

The males arrive first. They form a swarm and wait for females to mate. This type of reproduction is called “eurygamy”. It is worth noting that the bloodsuckers living in the city have learned to mate without forming a swarm. When the female is already fertilized, she goes for a portion of blood. After that, she lays eggs, and the cycle begins again.

Dream Interpretation, Big

A large and tall door, gate - portends wealth and nobility. A large river with clean and clear water is a harbinger of great happiness. A big fish fights, jumps - portends fame, glory. A large tree unexpectedly breaks down - portends trouble, misfortune. If you are going to cut down a large tree, it portends big profits and material well-being. Climbing a big tree means fame, fame, luck, happiness. A basin, a large bowl - portends an increase in reserves, great happiness. A large temple of ancestors means happiness and good luck in all matters. There is a coffin in the large hall - it portends joy and peace. Climbing a big tree means fame, fame, luck, happiness. You see large and wide city walls - great wealth and much joy. Driving along the highway and falling into a hole is a loss of wealth. Leaves falling from a large tree are a happy event in the house. Raking manure into a large pile means wealth, material well-being. A person gives you a big bucket - a benefit.