For each gardener, his own plot is a storehouse of useful vitamins and various minerals. However, not only the owners of their hacienda have a legal right to enjoy the benefits, there are some "personalities" who also do not mind to enjoy other people's good. One of them is an insect, which is popularly known as a spinning top, land cancer, and cabbage. Moreover, the damage from it is not so small. About how to deal with the bear (this is the real name of the pest), and we will discuss the topic of this article.
Real nightmare
For any owner of suburban private real estate, the bear is a real disaster within each individual garden plot. The diet of this insect is made up of roots and young plants. Also, do not mind eating and seeds.
In any case, no matter how you call it, the damage from this pest does not become less. Most of all, the insect prefers to live in moist soil, but humus and manure are preferable for it. And such gardeners just use such means in order to increase the productivity of their plot.
What does a bear look like? It is worth noting that it is quite large, and its appearance is not very pleasant. And before you consider what methods you can deal with this dangerous and destructive pest, it is worth getting to know him better in order to understand how to overcome it. Below will be a photo of the bear’s larva and a description of how to deal with this enemy.
The enemy must know in person
The insect was nicknamed the bear, in fact, due to the awkward shape of the body: an oblong, slightly disproportionate, dark green hue. The total body length usually does not exceed 2-5 cm, while it is clearly visible that it is as if divided into two parts:
Moreover, the cephalothorax is covered with a strong and solid shell. Due to this, an insect in minutes of danger can easily hide its head there. Two processes of 1 cm each extend from the end of the abdomen. Almost like any other insect on the head, external organs are located: eyes, antennae, and around the mouth you can see tentacles.
The forelimbs are thickened in the legs and turned inward. The hind legs have spikes in the amount of 4-5 pieces. As for the wings, they are finely scaled and exceed the length of the abdomen.
How does a bear live?
To recognize the insect, a photo of the bear and a description will help. How to deal with it will be described a little later, but for now we will consider how she lives and multiplies. The insect leads mainly an underground way of life, but occasionally the pest gets out to fly or swim. For this reason, it is very difficult to detect during the day, and at night even more so. With the advent of winter, the bear deepens into the ground for 2 meters or more, where it calmly waits for warm days. But some may winter in compost heaps.
Peak mating occurs between May and June. At this time, the air temperature is from +12 to +15 degrees, and adult individuals come to the surface. At the end of the process, the females burrow into the ground to a depth of 8-10 cm, where they equip their home. The female is capable of laying from 50 to 500 eggs, which have a rounded oval shape and 1-2 mm in diameter.
Each of the eggs is covered with a dense shell that protects it from damage. Due to this, it is not so easy to destroy them. In order for the masonry to fully develop, good conditions are needed where a high level of humidity is about 100%.
Development features
Before you understand how to deal with a bear, you need to find out how its development goes. Here you can distinguish several stages:
- egg;
- larva;
- nymph;
- adult individual.
After 9-20 days, larvae appear that resemble an adult in appearance, but wings are still missing. In addition, they are still blind until the first molt occurs. Therefore, all this time, the female is actively caring for the offspring. But as soon as the chitin layer is discarded, young individuals begin an independent life.
The transformation from the nymph stage to the adult takes place over 18-24 months. The larva becomes a fully grown adult after a year of life, that is, the next summer. The process of growing up can be divided into 4 stages:
- stage - the size does not exceed 15 mm;
- stage - a little more than 20 mm;
- stage - even larger 25 mm;
- stage - the body grows to 35 mm, small rudiments of 2 mm wings appear. After the molting process, they grow to 8 mm.
Soon, the larva can be considered fully formed, and it, along with adults, begins to dig tunnels and feed.
How to deal with a bear whose photo is terrifying? But first it is worthwhile to find out whether it poses a threat to humans.
Is there a danger to people ?!
Some insect pests pose a serious danger to humans. Fortunately, the bear is a pleasant exception. All that this insect is capable of is pinching, because the forelimbs are developed for digging underground tunnels.
Well, maybe this pest can frighten you with its unattractive appearance and large dimensions. And not only children, but also some adults. In this connection, it poses no threat to people.
Judging by old recipes, this insect served as a medicine for the treatment of tuberculosis patients. For this, the insect was ground into powder, which was then mixed with water, after which the patient needed to drink the prepared healing broth.
Damage is still there
As we now know, with respect to humans, there is no harm from the bear, at the same time there is damage. On the one hand, this insect is useful - thanks to the digging of underground tunnels, aeration of the soil is provided. Also in their diet include other insects, which also harm the crop.
But knowing how to deal with the bear is necessary, because on the other hand, the crop suffers. Thanks to the efforts of the bear, the roots of the plants are cut, which inevitably leads to their death. Typically, this occurs during the underground activity of the insect. In some cases, the roots of plants can block the access of sunlight to offspring, then the bears will gnaw them.
In this regard, one conclusion can be made: this insect is useful only in forests, but if they are present in the garden, then the crop suffers.
Methods of struggle
You can find out if there is a bear in the area by characteristic signs: elevated soil of beds or rolled lumps. This is especially noticeable after the past rain. As we have already found out, the insect is activated from the month of May, when they massively come to the surface.
If you dig a little (15 centimeters) in depth, you may be lucky - an egg laying will be detected. After some time, larvae will appear from them, the harm from which is no less than that from adults.
Above was a description of the bear, and how to deal with it - it's time to find out! There are plenty of ways to fight. Some folk remedies have already passed the test of time.
The use of kerosene
The use of kerosene to scare the bear has been used for a long time, and the method has established itself as very effective. Fuel is mixed with sand in the following proportion: 1 kg of sand and 50-40 ml of kerosene per square meter of land. For a large garden, this method is hardly suitable, but for a greenhouse it will be very useful.
Sand is poured with liquid, and everything mixes well. After this, the sand “enriched” with fuel remains mixed with the ground. Moreover, a mixture of three components (sand, kerosene and soil) is successfully used for planting not only adult plants, but also seedlings.
If there is a greenhouse, then it is advisable to introduce such a mixture into the furrows around the entire perimeter of the structure. To increase efficiency, you can also lay a rope dipped in kerosene around the perimeter.
Special trap
There is one very good way to deal with a bear in the garden, however, you will have to sacrifice honey. You need to take a glass jar or any other plastic container and lubricate the inside with a dainty at a quarter height to create enough flavor. Then the tank is buried flush with the ground and closed on top with a piece of board, iron or cardboard. Just leave a gap so that the insect attracted by the smell can get inside.
And falling into the tank, it is already very difficult for her to get out of the trap. Even impossible. In addition to honey, you can also use beer with a specific smell, which is no worse than the product of bees will attract the attention of the bear.
Only the jar needs to be instilled at an angle of 45 degrees, and then pour alcohol. The container is closed with gauze, which is not an obstacle for the insect. As many reviews indicate, the method is highly efficient.
Needle response
How to fight folk remedies with a bear using other methods? Summer residents who have extensive experience behind them are well aware that the scent of coniferous plants scares the bear away. In order to protect, coniferous branches should be chopped and scattered between the rows of plants. It is better to even sprinkle them with earth - the aroma of needles will be preserved for a long time. Often, pine, spruce, and fir material are used.
Why such needles of these insects are scared away by needles is not clear, however, the fact is clear and confirmed by many gardeners.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend
The bear can be considered a hardy insect, but this fact does not save it from other enemies in the person of the following representatives:
- Some insectivores - mole, hedgehog, lizard, shrew.
- Birds also love small creatures - starling, heron, rook, crow.
- Other insects are ants, ground beetles, and garden mites.
These natural helpers will come in handy in deciding how to deal with the larvae of the bear. And not only with them, but also adults.
But besides this, in nature you can meet another enemy of the bear - wasp Larra anathema. This insect is able to detect underground passages and attacks the pest itself right in its shelter. With the help of poison, she paralyzes the bear, and then lays her offspring into it and retreats. Thus, the pest itself becomes a feeder, while still alive. That's just such a defender is rare.
Chemotherapy
It is not always possible to get rid of the bear by the efforts of folk remedies. Then chemistry comes to the rescue, it is only advisable to use it when all other methods have not been effective for more than 3 years. In addition, almost all drugs are harmful and poisonous, and therefore they should be handled with great care, in no case ignoring what is written in the instructions.
We have already discussed ways to deal with a bear in the garden with folk remedies, now the turn has come to chemicals. The following drugs can be considered effective remedies in this area:
- "Thunder".
- "Phenoxin Plus."
- "Prestige 290 FS".
- "Actar 25 WG".
- Medvetox.
- "Bankol."
As a rule, drugs are sold through specialized stores and look like granules. You can make bait from them: first you need to cook porridge (from pearl barley or millet), add one of the chemicals, beer (for flavor). The mixture should be thick so that small balls can be rolled up, which must be laid out in the places where the insects are supposed to live.
Do not forget about the beds, which require increased protection. And usually we are talking about root crops and staple vegetables (cabbage, potatoes, cucumbers, tomatoes).
In conclusion
If a bear has settled in the garden, you should not think that she will just pick it up and leave herself. It is necessary to take timely measures. There are plenty of ways to get rid of this pest. Otherwise, the damage will be substantial.
Therefore, if you do not want to lose your crop, you should make it clear who is the boss here! And for this you need to not only know how to deal with the bear, but also apply the knowledge gained in practice. This will not only preserve the crop, the plants will also be protected and will be pleased with their fruits from year to year.