Beetles with the cute name “weevils” or “elephants” are not at all harmless. They feed on various parts of plants and can not only cause serious problems in the garden, but also completely deprive you of your harvest.
Weevils are one of the most common beetles on the planet; in our country alone there are several thousand species. The beetles got their name due to the elongated front part of the head - the rostrum. Insects feed mainly on plants; everything from flowers to roots is eaten.
Some types of weevils are attached to one type of plant, others are not so picky, consuming similar plants from the same botanical family, but there are completely unpretentious ones, they happily feed on plants from different families.
Apple flower beetle
The most famous and dangerous pest in our gardens, it has chosen the apple tree for life, and less often settles on the pear tree. A brownish-gray beetle about 4 mm long with a thin, curved proboscis overwinters in cracks in the bark, under the leaves.
In early spring, at an average daily temperature of 6°C, it emerges from its shelter and moves into the trees. At first it feeds on the kidneys, making punctures; as a result, “crying kidneys” can be seen on them - droplets of clear liquid.
Then the time comes to lay eggs; for this, the females gnaw holes in the flower buds and lay one egg in each bud. The larvae, hatching from the eggs, gnaw out the contents of the buds and fill them with waste products.
Buds damaged by apple blossom beetle. Photo by the author
Unopened petals dry out, forming brown caps under which larvae or pupae hide. A new generation of beetles feeds on the leaves, gnawing small holes in them, and spreads throughout the garden.
Particularly great damage from the flower beetle is felt in years with weak flowering of the apple tree; in this case, the apple harvest may not be expected.
Mr. Summer resident advises: preventive measures
To prevent its occurrence, you can take a number of preventive actions, which are as follows:
- Clear the area of leaves and unnecessary branches in a timely manner.
- Cultivate the soil near the trees systematically.
- Plant repellent plants near growing crops, such as wormwood.
- Using lime, treat trees.
- Promote the appearance of birds that love beetles with the help of birdhouses, hanging them on trees.
- Periodically treat with a harmless special product, for example Fitoverm.
- Grow away from wild crops.
- In the spring, when the buds appear, the elephants should be shed, and hunting belts will become excellent helpers.
- Alternate sowing of crops.
A comprehensive and timely impact on the weevil will lead to the desired result: the beetle will be defeated.
Raspberry-strawberry weevil
As the name suggests, it settles on raspberries, blackberries, and strawberries. A small grayish-black beetle 2-3 mm long eats young leaves and buds in the spring. By the time of flowering, females lay eggs one at a time inside the bud, while gnawing on the peduncle.
Traces of the weevil's activity are clearly visible: the buds break and fall off or wither and hang on the remains of the peduncle. The larvae eat the buds and pupate there. A new generation of beetles feeds on leaves, gnawing small holes in them, and then goes to wintering places - under fallen leaves or lumps of earth.
One female can lay up to 50 eggs, damaging a corresponding number of buds and leaving you without a strawberry or raspberry harvest.
Fruit goose
A beetle up to 6 mm long, crimson with a golden-greenish tint. Harmful on plum, apple, and apricot trees. The beetles emerge from their wintering grounds at an average daily temperature of 8°C, first feed on the buds, gnawing deep holes in them, then damage the fruits by piercing the skin. The injection sites are covered with dark cork tissue, forming characteristic tubercles.
After the formation of the ovaries, the females lay one or several eggs in the fruits. They gnaw out a small chamber in the fruit, place an egg in it and seal it with excrement. In this case, infection occurs with spores of fruit rot pathogens. In addition, the female gnaws the stalk, weakening the supply of nutrients.
The purpose of these actions is to create the most favorable conditions for the larva, which can only live in fruits affected by fruit rot. As a result, plums or apples fall prematurely, the pulp rots, and a larva develops within one month. The new generation of beetles remain in the soil or move to trees, where they can damage buds.
Cherry weevil
A golden-green with a crimson tint, the beetle is 5-9 mm long with a purple rostrum and thick light hairs covering the entire body. Found on cherries, cherries, plums, cherry plums, and apricots. It emerges from wintering grounds relatively late, during mass cherry blossoms.
The beetles first feed on buds, flowers and young leaves. Two weeks after flowering, females gnaw chambers in the pulp of the fruit that reach the seed. Having made a hole in the soft bone, the female lays eggs there.
The hatched larva feeds on the contents of the immature seed, then leaves the fruit and goes into the soil. At the beginning of autumn, a new generation of beetles appears and overwinters in the soil. The massive appearance of the cherry weevil can not only sharply reduce the harvest, but also destroy trees that lose their leaves.
The harmfulness of the insect
Most weevils are pests; they destroy plants and supplies and negatively affect the fruiting of crops.
These garden enemies are not dangerous for humans, but sometimes large adult individuals bite. Bugs that settle in the kitchen not only spoil food, but are also carriers of fungal infections and can cause severe allergies.
Weevils can settle in cereals, flour, tea, spices, and dried fruits. These products must be inspected regularly.
Important! Infestation by weevils is indicated by eaten patterns along the edges of the leaves, juice is released from the buds, the buds do not open, but harden into brown caps. If the larvae are in the soil, this can only be recognized after the plant has withered.
Plum borer, or copper plum borer
A small beetle 3-4.5 mm long, its bronze body with a copper tint is covered with thin adjacent hairs. The borer damages cherries, sweet cherries, plums and other stone fruits, and appears less frequently on apple and pear trees. The beetles emerging from their wintering grounds feed on buds, flowers, pedicels and young fruits.
Females lay eggs in the developing fruits one at a time and gnaw the stalk. The emerging larvae feed on the pulp of fallen fruits. The larvae pupate in the soil, and in the fall a new generation of beetles emerges, feeding on the leaves until the first frost. The beetles overwinter under plant debris on the soil surface.
One female can lay up to 120 eggs; damaged carrion can account for up to 40% of the harvest.
Pear tube gun
This beetle is distinguished by its blue-green or bronze-green color; the body length of an adult insect is up to 9 mm. In early spring it feeds on buds and young leaves, and begins active life at a temperature of 18-20°C.
A couple of weeks after leaving the wintering grounds, mating begins, and the female prepares a special place for laying eggs - she bites off leaf petioles and rolls them into a tube, 6-8 pieces at a time.
Cigars made from leaves with pear worm larvae
In such a tube, shaped like a cigar, the female lays up to 15 eggs. The larvae feed on the rolled up leaves for a while, then the “cigar” falls off and the larvae eat the fallen leaves. Later they go into the soil, where they pupate.
Adult insects remain for the winter in the soil or under fallen leaves in the garden. In addition to pears, the pipe roller damages quince, grapes, and some forest species - alder, linden, and walnut.
Chemicals
When it rains for days, the strawberry harvest melts before our eyes, and with it the labor of using improvised means, heavy artillery enters the battle. There are a number of products that protect the health of green mass and berries, which can be used even several weeks before harvest without fear for your own health.
Advantages:
- Work quickly, effect after first use
- Effective in heavy rain on all types of soil
- At the same time, other pests are destroyed
- Relatively low cost
- Convenient to use over large areas
Flaws:
- It is important to follow the dosage and manufacturer’s recommendations regarding processing and its frequency.
Expert opinion
Mityuk Stefania Bogdanovna
Each specific product has its own instructions for use, where the manufacturer indicates the optimal dosage for applying the poison, as well as the frequency of etching. Precautions should be strictly observed and a less toxic product should be chosen.
Fitoverm
An absolutely natural product that consists of living soil microorganisms. When they enter the soil, they increase the number of beneficial bacteria, and their waste products are destructive to weevils, caterpillars, aphids and fleas.
The liquid preparation is diluted in water and sprayed on the leaves and ground in dry, warm weather. Prevention is carried out once a month from the moment the first shoots appear.
Biokill
According to people who grow strawberries on an industrial scale, Biokil is the best drug known today. The complex insecticide effectively destroys weevils, aphids and other pests, breaking down into safe radicals that do not accumulate in the soil and plants. The key advantage is the ability to process 3 days before harvest. The manufacturer assures that the product is absolutely safe.
Aktara
This insecticide has a wide spectrum of effects, destroying all pests in the soil and on its surface. The contents of the sachet must be dissolved in water and sprayed according to the instructions. Usually one treatment is enough to completely eradicate the weevil. The drug should be used in early spring, as it can penetrate plants and accumulate in the soil.
Alfalfa mower, or alfalfa root weevil
A relatively large beetle, about 1 cm long, with a variable, spotted silver-black color. A polyphagous pest that prefers legumes, but does not refuse other plants. The beetles overwinter in the soil at a considerable depth - more than 20 cm, at a temperature of 8°C they actively move to the surface, feeding on leaves, flowers, and apical buds of various plants. When it gets cold or very hot, they hide under rosettes of leaves.
After mating, the females lay eggs in the soil to a depth of 5 cm, the larva feeds on young roots, then moves to large roots and gnaws holes in them, making winding passages inside. The alfalfa mower has a two or three year development cycle depending on weather conditions, is capable of flying long distances, multiplies massively in areas where legumes are grown, and often feeds on potatoes, beets, currants, and grapes.
Mower grooved
A polyphagous pest, a beetle 8-10 mm long, black or dark brown in color with golden spots. In spring, beetles feed on the leaves of various fruit, vegetable, and ornamental plants, damaging the buds and leaves of strawberries, raspberries and other crops. The larvae live in the soil and ring the roots of various plants, which causes their oppression and death.
In addition to the listed beetles, significant damage to our gardens is caused by the beetle, which gnaws leaf petioles, which leads to leaf fall in June, the nettle leaf and pear leaf weevils, which eat leaves and buds, and the large pine weevil, which, in addition to conifers, damages the bark and buds of apple trees, mountain ash, grapes, as well as many other representatives of the Weevil family.
Pests of fields, gardens and vegetable gardens
The elephant beetle (another name is the mower) is a representative of the Coleoptera family. The harmless name hides one of the most dangerous insects, capable of destroying almost all existing plant species in the shortest possible time.
Weevils (from the Latin Curculionidae) belong to the order Coleoptera, one of the largest families of beetles. There are more than 70 thousand of them on the globe. The priority habitat for insects is countries with a hot tropical climate. More than 5 thousand species of weevils have been recorded in Russia.
How to get rid of weevils
Weevil control begins in early spring and continues throughout the season. Most measures are classified as agrotechnical; they are timed to specific phases of pest development. There are also approved insecticides that are used against various weevils.
1. Hunting belts. In early spring, before the buds open, attach hunting belts to tree trunks at a height of 30-50 cm. Belts can be dry, sticky, or saturated with insecticides. Hunting belts are an obstacle to the path of insects rising from their wintering grounds onto tree branches. Inspect traps regularly, destroy insects, and burn paper traps.
2. Whitewashing of trees. Weevils are less likely to colonize trees that are whitened with lime milk in early spring. Whiten the trunk and skeletal branches of fruit trees with a solution prepared from 1.5-2 kg of freshly slaked lime and 10 liters of water.
3. Shake off bugs by hand. A little later, during the swelling of the buds, when the apple flower beetle and other weevils are already on the tree, you can simply shake them off. It is important to carry out the operation at temperatures below 10°C, when the beetles are inactive. In warm weather they disperse quickly. Spread a thick bedding under the tree and sharply, but not forcefully, knock on the branches with a stick wrapped in burlap. This way you won’t damage the bark, and the beetles, sensing danger, will pretend to be dead and fall down. Shake off flower beetles and other weevils at least 2-4 times over several days. Place fallen beetles in a bucket of water with kerosene or insecticide added.
4. Chemical treatment. This radical method is used at a strictly defined time. Against the apple blossom beetle, spray trees during the period from bud opening to bud development, use the preparations Kinmiks, Inta-Ts-M, Fufanon-Nova, Tanrek. Apply treatment against cherry weevil immediately after flowering and again after 10 days. Use all insecticides strictly according to the instructions, not exceeding the dose, observing safety precautions.
5. Spraying with herbal infusions . To repel pests, use infusions prepared from plants with an insecticidal effect - hot pepper pods, tansy flowers, tomato tops, tobacco leaves.
6. Removing damaged leaves . Remove and collect “cigars” from the leaves in which the pear worm larvae are hiding.
7. Cleansing from old bark . In the fall, after the leaves fall, be sure to clean and destroy old, dead bark with a stiff brush. Then whitewash the trunks with a special garden whitewash; it will prevent overwintering insects from colonizing the bark.
8. Cleaning up carrion . Be sure to remove and destroy fallen fruits of apple, plum and other fruit crops; they can be colonized by weevil larvae.
Photo by the author
9. Beetle baits . Use dry fallen leaves to make piles of bait for beetles planning to settle down for the winter. In late fall, remove the leaves from the garden and destroy them.
10. Digging the soil . If the soil in your garden contains black steam, dig it up in the fall, this will help get rid of some of the larvae.
11. Helper birds . Attract natural enemies of weevils to the garden - predatory insects (ground beetles) and birds - rooks, magpies, starlings, woodpeckers.
Traditional recipes for medium levels of infection
It is worth understanding that folk methods of fighting insects are largely methods of repelling insects from treated plants, and not poison.
These weevil remedies are more gentle both in their chemical composition and in their cost, but, in fact, they will only drive insects away from your area for some time, without in any way preventing their later return.
But their effectiveness in such a path has been proven for decades, so no one will stop you from trying them.
Options for mixtures according to folk recipes:
- Take onion peels and pine needles in equal proportions, add water to a large container and leave to infuse for 2 weeks. After a couple of weeks, the infusion is filtered and diluted with water in a ratio of 1:10.
- Take 150-200 grams of pharmaceutical chamomile, brew it with a bucket of water and infuse for 24 hours. After this, the infusion is filtered and about 50 grams of soap, preferably laundry soap, is added to it.
- In a similar way, you can prepare a solution based on wormwood, only you take about twice as much of it as chamomile.
Regardless of the chosen recipe, the treatment scheme will be the same: thoroughly spraying the affected plants with a spray bottle every 5-6 days throughout the season.
Benefits of weevils
Dressmaker bandaged
Many weevils are considered pests, but there are exceptions: some species that feed on weeds can significantly reduce the number of weeds in an area. For example, the knotweed lays eggs in the stems of common wormwood; the beetles damage the leaves. In Australia, two species of weevils are used for biological control of the aggressive aquatic weed Salvinia noxious.
You can cope with weevils by systematically caring for the garden and carrying out all protective work on time.
