With the onset of spring, everyone rushes to the country. It's time to clean up the site after winter and get ready for the new season. Right now, pests are becoming more active. The larvae of the bear hatching from eggs are extremely voracious. They gnaw young plants and shrub roots, condemning farm owners to crop failure. Today we’ll talk about how to recognize and neutralize these insects.
general description
The larva of the bear is extremely gluttonous. A lot of them come out of the nest, they grow quickly. And therefore, very soon the entire site will be filled with adult pests. Moreover, they will actively creep into neighboring gardens.
One bear can completely destroy up to 15 plants per night. Gluttonous larvae of the bear do no less harm than adults. Summer residents themselves may wonder how powerful and large these insects are. But you can fight them, and very effectively. You just need to know exactly what to do.
Long-lived insect
Adult insects reach 6 cm in length. That is quite impressive in size. Life expectancy is 5 years. Just imagine how many larvae they manage to breed in such a time! If you do not consider this insect solely as a pest, then you can find it interesting and even attractive. Outwardly, the bear resembles cancer. In case of danger, his head is hidden in a shell. The forelimbs are powerful paws, with the help of which the bear can dig holes even in heavy soil. Females lay eggs, from which the larvae hatch. Bears, thanks to the presence of wings, can fly from place to place.
Signs of appearance on the garden plot
The pest leads a nocturnal lifestyle. That is why it is not so easy to find individuals in your garden plot. A photo of the bear’s larva will allow you to understand who you are dealing with if you find an insect in your garden plot. The sooner you start the fight, the better. By what signs can you understand that this pest has chosen your garden? There are several of them:
- Seedlings begin to fall all over, and if you pull the trunk, it is easily pulled out.
- When digging up root crops, you will find serious damage.
- In the soil you find passages, holes and nests.
Favorite garden crops
He loves the bear potatoes. Do not mind settling in areas where cereals grow. These plants contribute to increased fertility of insects. Since cereals are rarely planted in summer cottages, potato fields suffer the most from this pest. If you grow a culture year after year in one place, then you no longer need a photo of the bear’s larva. Surely you yourself well know what these insects are.
Egg laying
They can sometimes be found in their garden in abundance. In this case, they need to be destroyed as quickly as possible. The photo and description of the bear’s larva allows you to figure out who really settled on your site and how to deal with this alien.
This is one of the few insects that equip their nest. This is a small camera. Most often, masonry can be found under a layer of soil or in manure. Externally, eggs can be confused with ants, only they are much larger. After about three weeks, larvae will emerge from them. Typically, the nests are shallow, about 10 cm below the surface of the earth.
Description of the larva
A photo of the young of this insect makes it clear that they are a small copy of adults. The only difference is the size. Of course, the larvae do not yet have powerful forelegs and formidable carapace. Therefore, the summer resident can look at new bugs with interest and not understand what kind of creature he met. The larva goes through several stages of molting. At first it resembles a gray or yellowish spider, but gradually the resemblance to parents becomes apparent.
First loss
A huge number of insects hatch from one nest. Immediately after emergence from eggs, the larvae begin to feed. Of course, this affects your landings.
If at first the remains of the protective membrane act as food, then soon the food that is usual for the adult bear will serve as a food source: roots, root crops, lower sections of the stems of the plantations. You need to understand that tomorrow the need for food from voracious creatures will only increase. Moreover, the number of sexually mature individuals will grow steadily, which means that the number of livestock will increase exponentially next year. Therefore, each gardener should know what the larva of the bear looks like, and, having stumbled upon a group of bugs, destroy everyone at once, until they begin to walk around the site.
Unlike other pests
Often, gardeners imagine them in a completely different way. Therefore, today we decided to tell how the larvae of the bear and the May bug differ. There is nothing in common between them. Contrary to popular belief, white caterpillars have nothing to do with bears. This insect is characterized in that it undergoes an incomplete transformation cycle. That is, misses pupation. Insects hatch already like adults.
The differences are immediately visible. To make sure of this, take a look at the photos located in our article. The differences between the larvae of the bear and the May beetle are obvious. The first (photo above) in the early stages of development are similar to spiders. Gradually, similarity with adults is only growing. The Chafer beetle and its white, thick caterpillar larva (photo below), on the contrary, are nothing like each other.
Pest hazard
The insect moves underground, comes to the surface only at night, so it is so difficult to catch at the crime scene. And there, remaining invisible, it gnaws at the roots and tubers. Of course, the ground part of the plant withers and dies, and the summer resident can not understand what the reason is. Often he sprinkles plantings with various drugs for fungal and viral diseases. Of course, there will be no effect from this.
Larvae cause no less harm. As you can see in the photo, the bears, the insect and the larva are very similar. And their diet is also not much different. The larva also begins to nibble roots, tubers and seeds. But if there can be several adult beetles on the site, then the hundreds of larvae that hatched here until they rush to go nowhere. This is a whole army that will destroy your crop with great zeal. And the more they grow, the higher the need for food.
Is it possible to store damaged fruits
This is a fairly popular question, so let's dwell on it in a bit more detail. Any root crops that the bear or its larva gnawed on, receive too serious damage. If you dig them in the summer, then they can be used. Damaged areas just need to be carefully trimmed. But it is already impossible to lay such a crop for storage.
By the way, if a seedling of an apple tree or plum starts to dry up, then you should not write off everything on mice. Bear with great pleasure will nibble both the roots and the stem. The insatiable creature will destroy the bulbous flowers.
Folk ways of struggle
The greatest help is provided by plowing in spring and autumn. And it is advisable to do this when the night temperatures are quite low. In this case, nests and passages are destroyed. In autumn, insects hibernated do not have time to find new shelters. But there are a number of methods that can be used:
- If you like marigolds, then plant them all over the site. This measure works not only against the bear - these beautiful flowers scare away other pests.
- If during gardening you find a pest's mink, pour a little oil and a glass of water into it. The insect should climb to the surface itself.
- In the spring, next to the beds, lay out pieces of slate and film. Under them, the soil will warm up, and the bear’s nests will be built here. Raise them periodically and check. Discovered nests must be destroyed.
- Soap solution and onion infusion scares away pests, but soon they will return again.
Chemical methods of control
Not always listed methods allow to achieve a positive result. Or you may not have free time to use them. You can just go to a specialty store and purchase granules containing insecticides. Pheromones attract a bear, and after a modern chemical, even this powerful insect will die within a few hours. If you find dead insects, it is best to burn them. Otherwise, they can become prey and cause the death of birds.
Instead of a conclusion
Medvedka and May bug are formidable pests of the garden. Each summer resident should know how they look. It is very important to start the fight as early as possible so that the insects do not have time to breed and damage a large number of plantings. Today there is a large selection of chemicals that allow you to quickly get rid of the bear. Therefore, all that is required of you is to carefully consider your garden and notice signs of defeat in time.