Bug harmful turtle does not settle in houses or country houses, it damages crops in the fields and barns, where the latter can be stored. Growing grains, you can see that the quality characteristics of the grain have changed. Various influences can spoil the culture, but it is especially bug that can be seriously damaged, which will be discussed later in the article.
- Bug of the genus of turtles
- Features of the life cycle
- Signs and harm
- Pest Control
- Prevention rules
Bug of the genus of turtles
Different types of bugs can be easily distinguished from other parasitic individuals. These insects have a body shape that is adapted to the conditions in which they inhabit. Some insects have a flat body, which becomes rounded after the bug is saturated with blood.
Individuals from the family of earth shields and desert bugs have a spherical body shape. Rare species are also rod-shaped. There are bugs, which in appearance very much resemble small turtles, they are called - harmful turtles. The bugs are hemiptera insects, which were given this name because of the structural features of the front wings.All species of bugs have three pairs of legs that help them move, hold their prey and swim in the water. Each pair of legs developed in varying degrees.
The length of a turtle beetle can be from 10 to 13 mm, the width is usually 6.8-8.8 mm. The body of the insect is convex and oval, covered over with a chitinous shield. Color can vary from black to sand beige.
Features of the life cycle
The bug beetle is a flying insect. When spring comes warm, and the thermometer rises above 14-16 ° C, these pests wake up after wintering. Winter they wait in the gardens and forest plantings, under the leaves that have fallen. It is noteworthy that they can spend the winter in a place that is located at a distance of up to 180-195 km from the fields where they feed in the summer. The direction of flight of these insects depends mainly on the direction of the wind.
Bedbugs develop about 35 days, and live on average 10-11 months. Interestingly, food is the same in adults and in young individuals. So these insects are able to destroy large areas of planted areas.
Signs and harm
To determine the presence of bug turtles on wheat or other grain crops can be on a number of grounds:
- In cases where the beetles have not yet scattered across the field, one can see many faded young shoots of the culture in one area.
- Spikes that have been affected by pests have distinctive features. They are deformed and gain a whitish hue.
- The grain itself may change color. Also on it, if you look closely, there will be visible marks after insect bites and weak punctures.
It is almost impossible to distinguish the affected flour from the high-quality dry product, since the enzymes in the dry state lose their quality. But as soon as the flour begins to knead the dough, the substance in the humid environment will start working again and instantly change both the consistency and the color of the product. The economic threshold for bugs of winter bugs that overwinter:
- at the tillering stage - 1-2 individuals per 1 sq. m. m .;
- in the period of earing and flowering - 5-10 larvae per 1 square. m .;
- phase of milky ripeness - 5-6 insects per 1 square. m
The threshold may vary depending on the value of the wheat product. Harmful turtles can affect not only wheat, but also oats, barley and even corn. When the growing season comes to an end, insects move to where the grain is stored, for example, in barns. Part of the bugs are sent to winter, burrowing into the ground, waiting for spring heat.
Pest Control
To know what measures to deal with bugbugs can be applied is extremely important and even necessary:
- It is possible to significantly reduce the amount of food for insects and at the same time protect the high quality of grain through the timely harvesting of grain, rapid threshing, and direct combineing.
- Weed control and stubbling can also help.
- We should not forget about fertilizer fields, it is especially important to use the complex mineral compositions of phosphorus and potassium.
- At the current time there are special preparations - insecticides, which can be sprayed fields. These include: Decis, Fastak, Mavrik, Arrivo, Fury, Phosbecid, etc.
Prevention rules
In order to preserve the crop and avoid an increase in the insect population by the next season, the fight against the bug will have to start with preventive measures. For this it is recommended:
- Conduct fertilizer soil mineral complexes that contain potassium and phosphorus.
- In the shortest time to harvest. If he stays on the field for a long time, he may be hit by parasites.
- Destruction of weed plants on the foliage of which can be eggs of bugs.
- Additional processing of grain, cleaning it from debris and dirt, drying.