The Colorado potato beetle is capable of completely destroying most of the potato crop in days, and sometimes hours. And not only him. Being a natural “consumer” of solanaceous crops, this insect is capable, in the absence of its main goal, of infecting other plants as well. Among them may be: tomatoes, physalis, eggplant, peppers. Let's look at the best remedies for the Colorado potato beetle.
Content:
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Description
There are several dozen methods of dealing with the Colorado potato beetle, however, most of them are quite time-consuming and ineffective.
Colorado beetle
The saddest thing is the fact that the natural enemy of the beetle, the doryphora fly, could not leave Colorado., in contrast to its victim, which perfectly adapted to other climatic conditions.
Colorado potato beetle larvae
In addition, since the beetle accumulates solanine in its body, which is rich in the stems and leaves of many nightshades, it becomes inedible for most birds and reptiles. Of all the birds living in a temperate continental climate, only guinea fowl can eat a beetle.
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Thus, the only acceptable way to deal with this insect is to exterminate it with the help of specialized insecticides.. The fight against this pest should take into account the features of the life cycle of beetles, this is how the maximum efficiency will be achieved from all the means that are planned to be used.
Consider the life cycle and features of the development of the beetle in more detail:
The beetles hibernate at depths of 30 to 50 cm. Those of them that are not frozen in winter come to the surface, begin to feed on young shoots (not necessarily solanaceous) and mate. Moreover, if the female beetle mated in the fall, then in the spring, leaving hibernation, she immediately lays eggs.
Beetles come out of their winter hiding places when frosts are no longer expected. Usually, this happens when the air temperature stabilizes around + 12-15 ° C and serious precipitation is not expected. The peak of this outcome falls on the last ten days of April - the first ten days of May.
Colorado potato beetle eggs
Within one day, the female beetle is able to lay several dozen eggs.; during the entire life of the female, the number of eggs can reach about a thousand (according to some sources - seven hundred).
Thus, the population of only one female can turn into a center of distribution of beetles on a regional scale. V northern regions beetles rarely survive one generation, however, in the south (Kuban, Rostov and Astrakhan regions, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Moldova), there can be two or three generations of Colorado beetles, depending on the temperature and the duration of the warm season. This means that in fact preventive measures to combat the beetle should begin already at this stage.
The larvae leave the eggs already on the 5th day, under unpleasant weather conditions - on the 15th. In order to successfully deal with pests at this stage, you need to prevent the emergence of a large number of larvae and destroy the maximum number of insects before they lay eggs.
The case when the measures taken turned out to be useless or untimely
The larvae will gain mass for about three weeks, then they burrow into the ground and turn into pupae. The pupae either have time to turn into adult insects and come out at the end of summer, or they hibernate until the next year, and then turn into adults the next spring. Adult beetles in search of new feeding places or meta-wintering are able to fly up to 10 km per day.
They can also fly!
The life cycle of the Colorado potato beetle is several months, however, these insects have a unique ability to enter a state of diapause - many months of hibernation, which can reach up to 3-4 years. That is why beetles become able to produce offspring immediately in the middle of spring (from adult fertilized overwintered females), and this is the reason for the impossibility of their total elimination. Well, at least not yet…
Modern means against beetles created by the chemical industry are quite effective and the state of the issue is now much better than 20-30 years ago. It is quite possible that soon a universal method for the complete extermination of the Colorado potato beetle will appear.
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Facilities. Classification
Specialized insecticides against this type of insect can be classified according to several parameters.
In the general case, remedies for the Colorado potato beetle are of the following classes:
- Funds of narrow specialization. Their use is limited to only one form of insect. Some remedies only help against larvae, some only against adult, mature beetles.
- General purpose or universal. Such weapons are capable of damaging pestspassing through any phase of the life cycle.
The latter, universal remedies, are more chemically active and have a stronger effect on both beetles and plants (and, if safety standards are not observed, on people). Naturally, not all, but many of the means of this group are phytotoxic, that is, they negatively affect growth. potatoes and maturation of its tubers.
Potatoes before planting
If there is such an unpleasant possibility, it is recommended not to treat with such means in any case potatointended for planting next year. In the best case, after such treatment, it will give very weak seedlings and offspring, in the worst case, it will not sprout at all.
By means of influence
planting potatoes
In turn, according to the methods of use, funds against the Colorado potato beetle are divided intofollowing groups:
- pickling preparationscreated for the "treatment" of tubers (this term means a special pre-planting treatment of tubers);
- spray preparations; are used for application to leaves or stems using sprayers.
The main classification currently used divides these agents according to the methods of influencing pests.
They are:
- Contact means. The defeat of pest beetles occurs when insects come into contact with the treated stems, leaves or flowers of the bush they attack. Such funds have one significant drawback: during rains, watering or any other way of getting water on the plant, they are washed off. The latter involves spraying such products in dry weather, when rain is not expected, and watering is not planned.
- By intestinal means. These substances enter the body of beetles through their nutrition.
- System tools. This category of funds gets inside the plant, filling it almost entirely. As a result of such exposure, the leaves and stems of plants become poisonous to beetles.
By active ingredient
Pest hunting
The main active ingredients against Colorado potato beetles are:
- Avermectins. They are a product of the vital activity of streptomycetam fungi. They can also be produced industrially. Most often, the composition of the insecticide against the beetle includes such a modification as avertin-N or aversectin-S. The first has a good effect on larvae and adults, the second on all forms of the beetle, including eggs and pupae. However, it should be remembered that both intestinal and contact preparations based on avermectins are of little danger to humans, however, they can be poisonous to other insects, such as bees. Therefore, the use of such drugs in the vicinity of apiaries is recommended with caution.
- Pyrethrins. These are substances that are contained in the cells of plants of the Asteraceae family. They can also be synthesized artificially. Means based on them block the nervous system of beetles, causing their death. Also, like the previous group, they are of low toxicity to humans, but poisonous to fish and bees. In addition, at high temperatures (above + 25 ° C), their effect is significantly weakened up to its complete absence.
- Phosphorus compounds. Means against insects belonging to the third class of danger. With prolonged, low-concentration exposure, beetles can generally develop immunity to drugs of this group.
- neonicotinoids. These substances are used to create systemic remedies against Colorado potato beetles.
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The low toxicity of any insect repellent does not mean that it can be used without fear for your health. This means that the acquisition and use of such drugs requires certain precautions.
Consider them:
- it is necessary to buy only drugs that have been certified and meet the standards
- It is forbidden to use insecticides that have expired
- inaccessibility during storage for children or pets
- storage conditions of drugs must comply with their instructions; usually dry, dark and cool place
- the poison is dissolved in water (or other solvents) exactly according to the instructions and in the doses indicated there; an overdose of the drug can be very dangerous for both people and the environment
- each drug is compatible (or not compatible) with any other drugs; this information must be indicated in the instructions; the use of incompatible drugs in the same place at the same time is prohibited
- spray solutions should be prepared only before their use (at the earliest - two hours before spraying)
- it is best to spray potatoes in the morning or evening in dry weather
- the person involved in spraying should be dressed in specialized clothing - a suit that protects the skin from possible contact with the drug; the use of protective equipment such as goggles, a respirator and gloves is mandatory
- during spraying it is forbidden to eat, drink, smoke; talking is also not recommended.
- if the insecticide gets on the skin, it is recommended to wash it off with plenty of running water
- the remains of the solution must not be drained into the sewer; they must be poured into a dug hole in the ground somewhere in a wasteland, then this hole needs to be buried
- at the end of spraying, it is necessary to wash the sprayer, wash work clothes thoroughly, and the worker himself take a shower, having washed himself with laundry soap
- each insecticide acts for a certain time; re-processing before this period is not allowed; time is in the instructions.
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Popular pest control
Preparations used for dressing
Means of this type are able to protect the young potatoes only for a certain amount of time. After this time comes to an end, chemical decomposition of the insecticide occurs. So that the beetles at the end of this period could not damage the plants, it is necessary to process the site again, but using some other means.
Prestige, CS
It is a drug of the system principle of work. The manufacturer is the German chemical concern Bayer. The composition of the drug includes the following active substances:
- imidiacloprid; an insect repellent developed more than ten years ago and having an excellent characteristic: the protection of tubers treated with it retains its effectiveness for one and a half months; in addition to the Colorado potato beetle, the tubers will be protected from cicadas, aphids, ticks; and soil parasites (medvedki, Khrushchev, wireworms and scoops) will bypass the site;
- pencecuron; remedy for fungal infections; the time for protecting potatoes from various forms of fungus is about 40 days; first of all, these diseases include late blight and rhizoctora;
The tool belongs to the third class of danger. The working concentration for the use of this agent is 1 to 20.
The consumption rates are as follows: 1 ml of the drug is consumed per 1 kg of potatoes. Pre-planting treatment is carried out: the tubers are laid in one layer on a tarpaulin or soil and they are sprayed with a solution prepared earlier. The solution has a pink color, so it is noticeable to the rhinestone how well the tubers will be covered with it. When the solution dries, a thin film layer forms on the tubers.
After the solution has dried, the tubers should be turned over to spray their lower part. Then they should be dried again, and then proceed to planting. This is mandatory: plant so that both sides of the potato dry, otherwise the effectiveness of the product will noticeably decrease. It is also recommended to treat the potatoes near the planting site so that the insecticide film is not peeled off the tuber body during its transportation.
Since the agent enters the stem and leaves of the plant, the beetles, starting to feed on them, immediately die, while not even having time to lay their eggs. In tubers that are formed anew on the bush, and which will then be removed as harvest, the agent does not penetrate. An additional function of the drug is the stimulation of the growth of a potato bush and anti-stress effect, since the specimens treated with it are much easier to tolerate a decrease in temperature and lack of water. When it expires, the product completely decomposes into non-hazardous components.
"Taboo"
Also a systemic insect repellent based on the same drug, imidiacloprid. Similar to the previous preparation, it produces a comprehensive protection of the plant not only from the Colorado potato beetle, but also from the wireworm and other parasites. Means "Taboo" can be used in conjunction with fungicides.
The solution is made as follows: 8 ml of the product must be dissolved in a liter of water. This will be quite enough to treat about a centner of potato tubers. The composition of this drug includes sticky surfactants that can create a thin and durable film on its surface that keeps the insecticide around the tuber. The film is strong enough, which allows the treatment of tubers far from the landing site; during transportation, the protection from the tubers will not crumble.
For better visibility of the etched layer, it has a pink color. Since sprouts may be injured when turning over sprouted potatoes, Taboo can be used to process tubers directly in the planting holes. For spraying 100 sq. m area must be diluted in 10 liters of water 4 ml of the drug. In this case, the solution must be made homogeneous; this can be achieved in the following way: at the beginning, the agent is dissolved in a glass of warm water, and then the resulting glass of highly concentrated agent is poured into a 10 liter container.
The tubers are placed in the wells, and then they are sprayed with an average consumption of about 30 ml of product per tuber. The poison impregnates the shoots and leaves of the plant, but does not enter the tubers. The duration of the drug is 1.5 months, which, taking into account the life cycle of the Colorado potato beetle, does not allow the latter to have time to lay eggs.
Bush sprays
Means "Aktara"
Also a systemic remedy, but based on the drug thiamethoxam. It has the ability to almost instantly be absorbed into the foliage and stems of potato bushes, turning them into a poison not only for beetles, but also for almost all Lepidoptera.
The action of the drug is based on blocking the nervous system of insects., their death occurs about a day after its use; at the same time, during these days, insects cannot eat.
Means "CORADO"
Imidiacloprid based product. Has a systemic effect. Approximately 60-80 minutes after it enters the body of an insect, it makes it impossible to feed it. Death occurs in about 2-3 days. The drug is not sufficiently moisture resistant, so it is recommended to use it in the absence of wind and precipitation in the evening or in the morning. In extreme cases, it is allowed to use the drug before watering (or rain), but no later than 4 hours before it.
The product is packaged in 1 and 5 ml ampoules or 10 ml vials. Consumption of funds per 100 sq. m is 1 ml per 10 liters of water. The duration of the funds is about 30 days. This insecticide is allowed to treat potatoes only once per season.
"Killer"
Contact-intestinal preparation based on chlorpyrifis and cypermethrin compounds. Kills almost all potato pests resistant to organophosphorus compounds. It is recommended to apply in dry calm weather at a temperature not higher than +22°C..
The consumption of the drug is about 100 ml per 100 sq. m. This volume is dissolved in 10 liters of water. The period of activity of the drug is 3 weeks. Also, like other insecticides, it is allowed to treat potatoes with it only once per season. Moreover, this treatment should not take place later than a month before harvesting.
Beetle monument. From the "grateful" farmers of Hungary in honor of the 50th anniversary of his appearance in the country
VIDEO: POTATOES. WHY DID THE COLORADO BEETLE APPEAR AGAIN?
TOP-5 Remedies for the Colorado potato beetle. Description of the life of the pest, classification of means against it (Photo & Video) + Reviews
Corado in such heat is practically useless; I deal with potatoes in small volumes, because there is little land of only 10 acres, so two days ago I processed the potatoes carefully; official fake excluded
Try the flowers "Scented Tobacco" - a poisonous bait for the beetle. It has been working properly since the 40s of the 19th century. Try it, there is not much work, but we have not seen a beetle for more than 10 years. If you manage, and you will not.
I don’t know how effective a remedy can be made from a plant that destroys with great pleasure and exorbitant appetite?! (We did not plant potatoes this year)
I don’t know where you are from, so I can’t say anything about the timing. You have one logical error, you don’t need to cook anything from Fragrant Tobacco, it is the poison for the beetle. It’s just that you don’t see this in the open ground - beetles and their larvae come, are poisoned, they are replaced by new ones that come from outside, and the picture before your eyes does not change - the beetles eat Fragrant tobacco with appetite. You probably don't mark them.
Try to repeat my "Experience on the table". The second batch of beetles was brought to me in mid-August. It is now the end of June, about 1.5 months until mid-August, should be enough to grow Fragrant Tobacco seedlings to an acceptable size. Repeat the experience and you will see with YOUR eyes how effective Fragrant Tobacco can be when used correctly. Just don't plant more than three or four beetles in a jar. Fragrant tobacco may not be enough for everyone.
Can't access your address. Can you tell me how to use the flowers Fragrant tobacco from bugs?
HM...
I don’t know exactly what substance, but my father sprays potatoes with it even when planting, and there are no beetles along the way throughout the entire growing period. Here, however, I don’t know exactly what kind of poison, the color is pink, even lilac. But it’s definitely an effective remedy, since they forgot about the problem with beetles.
It would be great if you still found out the name of this “pink” substance)
PRESTIGE
Tried Regent.
He killed all the sprouts. The potatoes came up two weeks later, and not all of them! There were about a dozen dead beetles, and the rest were interrupted by others, and after 1-2 weeks they were quietly grazing on potatoes processed by Prestige.
Due to late shoots and their inhibited growth, plus drought - and I was left with practically no harvest!!!
And one more thing ... The article is smart, but it promised five best remedies, and indicated only three Acts, Killer, and Imidacloprid in varieties.
There is no chemical industry in Russia. pesticides are bought abroad by all sorts of LLCs, in the country they are packaged in ampoules
This year the beetle does not take anything. you splash, the beetle falls, then comes to its senses and again crawls onto the bush. I'm used to antibiotics like people.
Why is imidacloprid written on the packaging of the killer, while you write completely different compounds? Imidacloprin is a nitrogen compound, while yours are phosphorus.
May 24, 1950 The “grateful” Americans sprayed tons of beetles over the GDR and Hungary.
Baba Maria told how she was in Germany during the war, they were taken out of the USSR for work, the Americans threw nets from planes, some nets did not break, and everyone went to see what it was ...