How does the Colorado potato beetle look and what

Colorado potato beetle - a representative of the leaf beetle family. Colorado beetles feed on various agricultural crops, such as: potatoes, sweet peppers, tomatoes, eggplants, and many others. These insects are dangerous pests. The appearance on the site is fraught with the destruction of most of the crop and subsequent problems.

General information

Colorado potato beetle - the most formidable pest .It is very voracious and its population is very difficult to control due to the rapid reproduction of individuals and the number of eggs that the female lays. A pest brought from North America managed to earn a reputation as a true killer of agricultural crops.

Despite everything, it can and must be fought. If you leave it alone and do not take any action, then can be left without harvest.

What damage does

The name "leaf beetle" they received thanks to the love of eating the leaves of plants. The ration list includes: potatoes, tomatoes and other crops, they can also enjoy some colors, such as tobacco, petunia.

Most often the beetle eats the leaves of the potato But some individuals can destroy and tubers in the ground

The beetle most often refuses the fruits and roots of the plant, because by its nature it eats exclusively tops and leaves of .But even nature is sometimes deceptive, otherwise it is impossible to explain the fact that some representatives do not refuse fruits and young shoots.

Larvae are much more voracious than adults .They can completely destroy all the shoots. When all the leaves are eaten and not whole, they are sent to eat leaf pulp, this leads to the complete destruction of the plant.

Individuals that are in the ground eat tubers. Potatoes refuse to grow, and in the end brings a meager crop, or nothing at all.

Where did

come from Where did it come from? Homeland - the north-east of Mexico. We first learned about him after he appeared and destroyed the fields in Colorado. Also in the northeast of Mexico live other members of the family of leaf beetles, feeding on wild cultures.

History of

From the north of Mexico, the beetle went to America and destroyed the fields in Colorado

He went to from the north-east of Mexico in the depth of North America .Reaching the United States of America, the insects devastated the potato fields in Colorado. From the name of the state where they first learned about beetles, the pest was given the name "Colorado beetle".

Stages of development

As soon as the thaw sets in, the bugs come to the surface in search of food. The struggle with them is hindered by the fact that they leave the ground for a long time, the process takes from one month to several.

The whole insect has four stages of development:

• Egg .Insects leave their eggs on the leaves. As a rule, the female lays about a thousand eggs, which are oval in shape and are close to two millimeters in size. May be in the egg stage from five to seventeen days, it depends on external conditions. During this period, individuals acquire a darker tone.
• Larvae .The larva that just hatched from the egg, in turn, also implies four stages of development.

Colorado potato beetle eggs Larvae

On first stage it is colored dark gray. The size of the larva is two and a half millimeters. She uses leaf pulp as food.

The second stage of is caused by an increase in the size to four and a half millimeters and a change in color to red. During , the third is already nine millimeters, and the larva acquires a red and yellow color.

On the of the last stage of the , this individual has an orange color and a sixteen millimeter body.

The Dangerous Larva

It is able to completely destroy all the potato leaves, and when the leaves are gone, it will begin to feed on the pulp. Culture stops in its development, therefore, the plant will not grow. A gardener may remain with a poor harvest, or he may not get a single potato from a bush.

• Dolly .The larva slips from the potato leaf and goes underground to pupate. The duration of the transformation stage is approximately three weeks, again, depending on the conditions. The insect changes its color to yellow-orange.
• Beetle .Crawls out of its place of imprisonment, namely, the pupa, and begins to eat potato leaves. The young individual has a bright orange color.

Stage of the pupa

All these stages are important for the full development of the individual. A fairly simple development, each stage takes some time.

How the

looks like The average insect length is twelve millimeters , and the width is eight millimeters .Looks like a yellow-orange beetle.

Adults have small membranous wings, with the help of them they fly. Each sheath has 5 black stripes.

Adult Colorado potato beetle

How long does

live? Usually representatives of the species live for one year , but some are able to live 2 or 3 years.

It is notable for its ability to to fall into the diapause( with this skill, the Colorado potato beetle slows down its metabolism, in other words, its metabolism, which allows it to go without food for a long time. Usually, the ability is used to survive the winter or pooron food year).

What kind of beetles are similar to the Colorado

?From here, the individuals headed north, where they ate potato fields in many US states. A few years later, representatives of the species thoroughly entrenched in this place.

When transporting goods, the from the New World to the Old Colorado beetles were brought to Europe. They successfully fought with them, but during the First World War they were able to gain a foothold on the French fields, and from there they went further across Europe, traveling by means of freight cars.

Where the

winters When the cold comes, representatives of the species burrow into the ground at a depth of half a meter of and successfully overwinter there. They "dig out" during the thaw period. During the wintering period, some of the beetles die, but the large one still survives.

How to breed

As a rule, individuals breed in autumn, before diapause, and in spring. The female can lay almost a thousand eggs in one laying. Deposition starts after three days after mating. Mating is carried out in sunny weather, mostly at noon.

The female lays eggs

Interesting facts

• When an insect feels in danger, it does not fly away, it falls to the ground and pretends to be dead.
• An individual with the presence of wind can reach speeds of up to seven kilometers per hour.
• Toxins accumulate on the surface of the insect's body, making it virtually invulnerable to other insects.

How to fight the Colorado potato beetle

Chemistry

Insects are fought with the help of many chemicals. As a rule, insecticides are used, which are divided into two groups:

1. With which the potatoes are processed at the time of planting ( potato disinfectant) - “Prestige”, “Matador Super”, “Emperor”.
2. With which the is processed during the growing season , the growth of the plant is “Aktara VDG”, “Aktellik”.

Prestige - made when planting Actellic - during the period of growth and vegetation

Folk remedies

In the list of folkloregreatly help in the fight against insects.

Natural enemies of

The following should be included in the number of gardener rescuers from the larvae: bypads: abd.dc

The bug Perillus eats the Colorado potato beetle

It should be mentioned that the beetle can kill itself , not without the help of gardeners, of course. On the body of the Colorado potato beetle there are toxins that can kill the host. It is necessary to place the beetles in any vessel filled with water and leave it there. The poison will dissolve and kill the bugs.

Preventing the emergence of

Many gardeners claim that in order to prevent a large number of Colorado potato beetles from appearing on the site, it is necessary for to dig up the land of , which contains individuals, and collect beetles, which are in a state of diapause, in time to pile up the plants, again, collecting human beetles, which are in a state of diapause, in time to pile up the plants, again, collecting human beetles, which are in a state of diapause, in time to pile up the plants, again collecting the beetles of their own hands.

It is also necessary to use the popular methods of fighting the beetle, or chemical means, but gardeners are against cultivating plants with something, arguing that everything gets into the potatoes that we eat afterwards. Perhaps they are right.