Weevil: methods of dealing with the main grain pest

Weevil is one of the most dangerous parasites for cereals, which include rice, oats, millet, buckwheat, rye, barley, wheat, buckwheat, as well as pasta and caked flour. These crops and their processed products are the basis of the diet of this pest. Damaged stocks become unfit for food and in some cases can provoke poisoning. Plus, the grain that was hit by the weevil acquires the ability to absorb moisture from the air and eventually rots.

Characteristic

A barn weevil, it is also a grain weevil, is an insect with a body about 3.5-4.5 mm long. Moreover, its size may vary depending on what kind of food was present in its diet during the development period. The body of this pest has a cylindrical narrowed shape, the covers are shiny. Body color will depend on the age of the parasite: in young people, as a rule, it is light brown in color, in adults - almost black.

The weevil has a small head, which extends into the head tube and ends with a gnawing mouth apparatus. On the head there are antennae, bent at an angle. There are also wings: on the upper there are deep furrows located in the longitudinal direction, the lower ones are webbed.

A female barn weevil gnaws a hole in the grain, makes masonry and covers up the exit site with secretions. In this case, the masonry is quite large and the number of eggs can reach 300 pieces. Development in an egg lasts from 6 to 12 days, after which a larva emerges from it. The development process of young animals continues in the same seed where the masonry was made - the larvae gnaw out the insides of the groats, pupate in the same place and leave only after turning into an adult.

On a note! Due to the fact that all the stages of its development, the weevil spends inside the grain struggle with him is much more difficult!

In this case, the duration of the development period of the weevil beetle will depend on environmental conditions:

• 80 days at a temperature of 17 ° C;
• 70 days - 20 ° C;
• 34 days - 25 ° C;
• 30 days - 28 ° C.

In addition, this parasite requires a certain humidity for normal existence: air - from 75 to 95%, cereals - 15%.

If we talk about the life expectancy of this pest, then compared with other domestic insects, it is considered a long-liver. If the food source is rich enough, then at room temperature, which does not fall below + 10 ° C, it will live more than a year. With a decrease in this indicator to + 5 ° C, parasites will cease to feed, and when it reaches + 3 ° C they will fall into a cold stupor. If the thermometer continues to fall, adults will die.

Pest control methods

If weevil is found in cereals, it is advisable to throw away the infected product and immediately address the issue of how to deal with the invasion of these insects. If this is not done on time, then with its gnawing mouth organ the pest will easily overcome such an obstacle as the shell of the bag and make its way to other cereals.

How to protect products in the kitchen?

In an apartment, weevil most often infects rice, so this parasite is also called rice. He settles in the croup and after a certain period of time, gnaws the shell and gets out. Thus, in the kitchen we see already adult insects. But even in this case, getting rid of them is quite easy - just take into account the features of their existence and apply the simplest means.

If weevils are found in the kitchen, you should first carefully sort through all the bulk products.

Important! You do not need to choose a pest from cereals and then use it for food, since larvae in the process of vital activity secrete a special secret, which is a carcinogen!

Since weevils do not tolerate cold, you can get rid of them in the kitchen with the help of freezing. For this, cereals in which the beetle was not found, but at the same time they were next to spoiled products, are placed in the freezer for two days. If the infection occurred in the winter, then the grain can be taken out to the balcony.

It has been established that the weevil dies when the temperature rises to a mark of + 50 ° C, so if freezing for some reason cannot be applied, then the beetles can be removed in another way. Place the cereals in the oven and heat them at + 60 ° C.

But this does not end the fight against the weevil. Further steps will be as follows:

• after heating or freezing, cereals should be distributed in glass or plastic containers and stored for storage under a tight lid;
• in the same containers you can put one peeled clove of garlic - its smell remarkably repels the pest;
• put lavender flowers or a regular bay leaf on the shelves of kitchen cabinets and cabinets - these plants are repellents;
• periodically wash the shelves and the inner surfaces of the walls of the kitchen with soapy water, then wipe with a weak solution of vinegar.

And do not make too large stocks.

Granary Protection

If in kitchen conditions very simple measures are used to combat weevil, then chemicals are often used to process warehouses and barns. Over the years, disinfection, which may be gas or aerosol, remains a radical measure for destruction. Moreover, the processing is not carried out on their own, but exclusively by special organizations that have permission to do so.

Aerosol disinfection is used both inside storage facilities and in the territories adjacent to them. In this case, preparations for controlling weevil in the grain can be as follows:

• "Actellik";
• "Karate";
• Arrivo
• "Fufanon."

And other pyrethroid and organophosphorus insecticides. At the same time, to combat the parasite in the adjacent territory, the drug norm is approximately doubled.

On a note! Aerosol treatment shows very good results even under unpressurized barns, however, after it, until the authorized sale of cereals, it is necessary to withstand a fairly long period of time.

But the best results are shown by gas disinfection. For its use, ethyl bromide gas or tablets, which very successfully help get rid of weevil in the grain:

• "Phallus";
• Fostoxin
• Deges Plates;
• "Foskom";
• Magtoxin.

Before processing, the premises lend themselves to mandatory sealing, and fumigation is carried out by special units using the appropriate equipment.

Recently, the use of ethyl bromide has been increasingly abandoned, since it has been established that it adversely affects atmospheric ozone. Instead, it is recommended to use tablets or “Phosphine” powder, which is introduced into the stream with special dispensers. The active substances of the drug react with moisture and produce toxic fumes for parasites.This poison does not absorb grain - only neutral substances remain in it, which are subsequently removed by aspiration. But despite the high efficiency, fumigation is not always used. The feasibility of this method of destruction of weevils is determined based on the degree of infection.

In conditions of large barns and other granaries, freezing is also used. But here again additional funds are required, therefore a similar procedure is carried out only for that grain, which is considered especially unstable.