How to deal with a carrot fly on the site - effective methods

It will not be superfluous to know how to deal with a carrot fly, because this pest significantly spoils the crop. Despite its name, the insect has a much broader “specialization”: its larvae parasitize on other members of the Umbrella family: parsley, celery, fennel and other wild and cultivated plants. You need to carefully inspect the plantations for infection by a pest in order to destroy the fly and its larvae before they spoil the entire crop.

Insect description

Carrot fly (Chamaepsila rosae) - a flying insect that belongs to the large family Psilidae. Its body length is not great at all: 4–4.5 mm, so it often eludes the eye of a person.

Morphological characteristics of carrots flies:

• the abdomen and thoracic region of the fly are black, with a shiny surface and a whitish fluff.
• the small head is reddish brown, and the legs are yellow.
• Carrot flies are characterized by long oblong wings, transparent with brown streaks.

Females of the insect lay white oval eggs. Of these, larvae appear, whose length is about 0.5 cm. Their body is poor yellow, with a glossy shine. The larva has no head and legs: it has a continuous vermiform body, slightly tapering in front. The posterior end is rounded, and spiracles are located next to it. It is in this form that the pest damages the stands. This means that the grower must know how to deal with the carrot fly in the garden when the insect is in a larval state.
The next phase of the development of the insect is a light brown pupa with a segmented body. She emerges from the larvae in the fall. Speaking about this stage of pest transformation, it is necessary to tell how and where the carrot fly hibernates: it is her pupae that climb to the soil to a depth of about 10–25 cm before the onset of cold weather. Not all of them survive, but those remaining with the onset of heat will turn into adults . Also, the pest larvae can live in harvested carrots.

Insect life

After hibernation, the larvae begin to activate with the arrival of spring heat. A kind of indicator will help to tell when this time comes: the flowering of lilacs, apple trees, bird cherry trees, which coincides with the awakening of a carrot fly after cold weather. At this time, the soil is already sufficiently heated.

Favorite places for carrot flies are beds with moist soil located in the shade. If the summer is rainy, then the population increases several times more than in the dry and sultry. Pest activity occurs in the morning and evening hours; whereas at noon a fly seeks to hide in secluded corners and in the grass from the scorching sun.

Breeding

After mating with a female of the opposite sex, the female makes egg laying. In total, for its existence, it can set aside up to 120 pieces. This occurs in late May, approximately 25–40 days after the appearance of carrot seedlings.

The female lays eggs either at the very root neck of the sprouts, or at a slight distance from them, in a well-moistened soil; because without water, the future offspring is doomed to death.

Under optimal conditions, air temperature of 20–24 and its humidity above 60% after 4–7 days, larvae hatch from eggs. If the weather is colder, then the process is delayed: it may take 17 days. If the humidity is below 60%, then most of the offspring die.

After birth, the larvae move to young root crops to begin to feed on their juicy pulp, making numerous and ornate passages in it. The process of mass gain due to the nutrients of the donor plant lasts about 3 weeks. The larva rapidly grows in size and soon, when the time comes, it turns into a chrysalis. The pupation process takes place in the soil at a depth of 10 cm.

Carrot fly manages to carry out 2 generations in one summer. The second adults appear at the very end of July and August. Individuals manage to lay eggs, but the individuals that emerged from them no longer have time to become adult insects, remaining to winter in the form of a pupa or, less commonly, larvae.

Harm and signs

Larvae of carrot flies, parasitizing on root crops and other plants, harm them. Signs and consequences of insect activity are:

• changes in the color of tops or leaves - first they acquire an unnatural purple hue, then begin to turn yellow and gradually dry out;
• the top of the carrot, peeking above the surface of the soil, also becomes lilac;
• if you carefully consider the root neck of the root crop with a magnifying glass, then the passages made in it by the larva are noticeable.
• when cutting a carrot, you can also see the moves of a brown hue;
• the root crop begins to rot, because through mechanical damage to its surface, done by the larvae of the pest, bacteria penetrate.
• carrots are covered with tuberous formations.

The root crop exudes an unpleasant odor, making the product unappetizing, and its flesh is coarse. To avoid this, you need to know the methods of dealing with carrot flies.

Fight

Carrot fly has a long period of summer, therefore it is very prolific. The fight against it is complicated by the fact that when the larvae invade the root crop, it is almost impossible to destroy them. Therefore, the protection of landings must be taken care of in a timely manner.

Prevention

Protecting plantings in the garden from the pest includes primarily preventive measures, the adoption of which will help prevent the appearance of a carrot fly on the site or significantly reduce the population. The idea is to create unfavorable conditions for this insect on the beds.

Here are some simple rules on how to protect carrots from carrot flies:

1. Observe crop rotation. This means that it is impossible for several years in a row to occupy the same bed with a certain culture and even other representatives of a non-family. This is a universal rule that allows to some extent protect plants from pests: not finding useful food in the usual place, some of them will leave the site.
2. Weed weed. Wild plants from the Umbrella family are especially attractive to carrots. The ubiquitous clover and dandelion serve as food for adult flies. Therefore, it is desirable that these plants are not next to the cultivated carrots, celery, daikon, etc.
3. Planting carrots is recommended as early as possible (if possible, when the weather is suitable).
4. Give preference to carrot varieties that are resistant to carrot flies: Nantik Resistaflai F1, Calgary F1, Olympus, Amsterdam, Nantes 4, Shantan. They have a low content of chlorogenic acid, the smell of which is attractive to the pest.
5. Choose a dry and easily ventilated soil for planting root crops without stagnation of water.The carrot fly prefers to lay eggs in moist soil: this way the larvae will be born much faster, and during drought they will die. Therefore, if the soil is not well moistened, most likely the female fly will not lay eggs on it.
6. You need to regularly weed and loosen the beds with carrots. Aeration of the soil changes the nature of gas exchange in it to be unfavorable for the fly, and the development of larvae slows down.

Compliance with preventive rules is unable to protect the plantings completely, but they are the basis for their protection from the pest.

Chemicals

Processing carrots from carrot flies with chemical insecticides is not the safest way to control the pest. But, when it comes to saving the crop, this method is most effective and justified. The main thing is to comply with all the requirements specified in the instructions for the preparations: method of use and timing, dosage and precautions. Each insecticide they are individual.

All chemicals for carrot flies can be divided into 3 large categories:

1. For seed treatment before planting in spring. These insecticides make future plants more resistant to pest damage. For this purpose, “Prestige” is effective.
2. To scare away adult carrot flies from beds. The use of funds will help to avoid laying eggs by females near plantings. These drugs are very toxic and retain their properties for a month after use, so if the crop is harvested during this period, it will be unfit for food and can cause poisoning of the body. To repel carrot flies during their summers, they use Karate and Arrivo.
3. To destroy the larvae. For this purpose, diazinone-based preparations are suitable: Bazudin, Fly-eater, Provotox, designed to combat soil pests. Usually they are granules that need to be embedded in the ground. The listed preparations are included in the list of how you can cultivate the land from a carrot fly in the fall. Larvae and pupae, in contact with diazinonovye insecticides, quickly die.

Observing safety measures and instructions, you can solve the problem of infection of plantings with a carrot fly quickly and efficiently.

Folk remedies

The fight against carrot fly with folk remedies also shows good results. They act weaker than chemicals, but do not have a toxic effect on the soil and root crops. For example, you can use:

1. Traps from a cropped plastic bottle into which fermented kvass from bread is poured. Adult flies, deciding to try the treats, will be in the liquid. The disadvantage of this method is that beneficial insects fall into the trap.
2. Planting next to a carrot garden or between rows between rows of root crops of plants with a specific smell that most garden pests do not like: onions and garlic. Also, the scent of marigold discourages carrot flies. These flowers can at the same time and decorate the site.
3. Watering the beds with carrots with infusion of husks from onions. To prepare this folk remedy, the husk is poured with water in a ratio of 1: 2 parts. Also, onion peels can simply be scattered around the bed.
4. Infusion of black and red ground pepper (famous spices). 1 tbsp. a spoonful of powder is bred in a bucket of water and used for watering.
5. A mixture of sand (1 liter) and tobacco dust (1 tbsp.spoon) is used by sprinkling the beds.
6. Shelter of argon plantings with fiber after watering: realizing that laying eggs in moist soil will not work, carrot flies will fly away in search of a more suitable place for procreation.
7. They also use kerosene from a carrot fly: they spray carrot furrows in a small amount

Alternative methods of struggle can be used while the number of flies is small. It is advisable to use them before hatching the larvae, because later they will move to live inland, and it will not be easy to influence them.

Biological Remedies

The fight against carrot flies using biological agents is a compromise between effectiveness and safety. The drug "Actofit" is used against the pest: only 10 ml is diluted in 5 l of water. The trained composition needs to spray the beds with carrots (5 liters is enough for 1 hundred parts of the plot).

Biologics act slower than chemical insecticides. But they are safe for health, because they do not contain toxic substances.

If carrots are already infected

But often the observance of precautionary measures and the use of funds is not enough, and the larvae still infect the root crop. In this case, the question arises of how to store carrots damaged by a carrot fly.

Unfortunately, they will have to get rid of such root crops, because even at low temperatures the larvae will continue their parasitic activity and will be able to pupate. Stored carrots can only be stored in processed form: dried, grated and frozen, canned.

Carrot fly is a pest that infects root crops and makes them unsuitable for storage. To achieve a better result in the fight against it, it is better to use a set of measures: prevention, the use of folk remedies and, if mass destruction could not be avoided, the use of chemical insecticides and biological preparations.