How to deal with locusts in the garden

Locust control has been ongoing for many centuries. Insects have excellent appetite and eat ornamental and cultivated plants. Flocks of locusts, capable of destroying an entire field in a matter of hours, pose the greatest threat to agricultural land. In Russia, during the period of invasions, all the inhabitants of the provinces went out to fight insects. Armed with rattles, pans and everything that made loud noises, drove the flyers away from the fields, preventing them from landing on the ground.

Interesting! A. Pushkin had a chance to witness one of the locust migrations, about which he drew up a brief report: “May 23 — flew, 24 — sat, 25 — ate everything, 26 flew away.”

Modern control measures have undergone many changes, thanks to which it has become quite real to destroy the locusts on their personal plot.

What does a pest look like?

Before fighting locusts, you should understand how it looks and what its features are. Often summer residents kill innocent and useful grasshoppers, mistaking them for locusts.

How to distinguish a grasshopper from a locust

Indeed, both insects are very similar and can only be distinguished by a few details:

• the grasshopper has a mustache, the front legs are much longer than that of the locust;
• the female grasshopper at the end of the abdomen has a peculiar protrusion resembling a saber;
• locusts are active during the day, grasshoppers, on the contrary, in the evening and at night;
• a grasshopper is a predator and its diet includes small insects, locusts are pure vegan and do not eat anything except plant foods.

The locust body is longer and narrower, the head is inactive with a square muzzle without obvious signs of aggression. The grasshopper has a head with mobility, a muzzle with narrow jaws and a predatory expression. But to compare and compare such insignificant nuances, it is possible only by holding 2 representatives, and when he is alone, it is much more difficult to recognize.

On a note! The most important difference between a locust and a grasshopper is a short mustache and the ability to fly in an adult state.

Locust appearance

The locust family has about 10,000 species; about 400 species inhabit the post-Soviet space. The most common ones are:

• Siberian filly;
• migratory Asian locust;
• prus italian.

The length of the insect, depending on the species and age, ranges from 2 cm to 10 cm. The largest specimens can boast a size of 20 cm. It inhabits almost everywhere, with the exception of Antarctica and the Arctic. The color is very variable and is often determined by the living conditions of the locusts. In the European zone, mainly individuals of gray, green, olive color are found.

If the insect leads a sedentary solitary lifestyle, then the color is camouflage, not distinguishing it from the background of the habitat.

After the locust has become a member of the pack, it acquires the same color as the other members of the “community”. It is interesting that, being in a herd, an individual increases in size and its behavior changes.

Lifestyle

In late spring, locust larvae emerge from the eggs.From adults, they are distinguished by dimensions, underdeveloped wings, unformed genitals. Young growth begins to actively eat, while it is not characterized by particular legibility and eats any parts of plants, including roots.

As they grow older, the locust larva undergoes several molts. The entire period from the hatched larva to the adult is 35-45 days. An adult is characterized by good flying qualities. In search of food supply, it moves at a speed of 10 km / h and overcomes a distance of up to 100 km in a day.

The female lays eggs in a very peculiar way. Spreading the ground with an ovipositor, she lowers her abdomen into the ground and places 50-100 eggs in the resulting fossa. Through a special gland, it covers them with foaming mucus, which fills all the voids between the eggs, freezes and forms a small egg. In this state, the embryos winter. The female dies after laying eggs.

Interesting! There are cases when on an area of ​​1 square. m was up to 2000 egg capsules.

Locust damage

Knowing how serious the consequences of insect bites are, the logical question becomes whether locusts are dangerous to humans. Unlike his fellow grasshopper, the locust is not able to bite. But here it causes great harm. Locusts make squeaky sounds that resemble crackling sounds. Even with a small number of individuals in the area, the noise is pretty good, which annoys both humans and animals. As a result, the latter begin to show concern.

But still, the main factor why locusts are dangerous is crop destruction. Grain, gourds are a priority. There is no trace of the plants; the locust devours them from the roots to the ends of the leaves.

An insect of all ages has a herd reflex. As soon as they see their own kind, they begin to unite. Under favorable conditions, a good forage base multiplies rapidly and as a result a powerful flock is formed. Its number can be in the thousands, millions and even billions of individuals. Such a horde destroys everything in its path, leaving wastelands from the flowering fields. Insects eat grape plantations, grain and vegetable fields, thatched roofs of houses, reeds, orchards. It is interesting that during long migrations in the pack they do not shun cannibalism. The tribe immediately absorbs weakened individuals.

The strongest locust attack over the past 30 years in Russia was recorded in 2015. Hordes of harmful insects destroyed 30 thousand hectares in Bashkiria, 10 thousand in Chechnya, 35 thousand in the Astrakhan region. The Stavropol region and the Orenburg region were affected. The total area of ​​damaged land is equal to the territory of Romania.

According to some experts, a temperature above 28 ° C makes the Asian locust living in the Crimea and the Caucasus activate. Suffering from a lack of moisture, individuals try to make up for it, thereby destroying the vegetation. If global warming will continue at the same speed as now, then in 30-40 years hordes of locusts will reach Karelia.

Locust control methods

People have been inventing ways to deal with locusts for millennia. Primitive methods came down to trampling insects, for which they were driven into special ditches and cattle were released. Poisonous baits soaked in arsenic were also scattered. In the era of the USSR, foci of infection were treated by means of aviation with potent chemicals, which ultimately led to a significant decrease in the population. As a result of such actions, the soil on which the treatment was carried out became unusable.

Now such methods of locust control are practically not used. In addition, as a result of research and practical experience, it was found that insecticides are practically useless against locusts. It is possible that over many years of bullying, they have developed resistance to chemical compounds, which is transmitted from generation to generation.

In 2012, biologists seemingly found a way to get rid of locusts. The hormonal drug dimilin was tested. The tool had a fatal effect only on orthopterans, to which locust belongs. An important plus was that the drug enveloped the leaves with a thin wax film and maintained its effectiveness for 30 days.

However, agronomists considered this way of fighting with dimilin to be irrational, time-consuming and expensive. Since it would have to be processed several times - from locusts with one remedy, from other pests with another.

In 2015, during the invasion in the Astrakhan region, another means for the destruction of locusts was tested. There are many pathogens that adversely affect locusts, Colorado potato beetles, and aphids. But under the influence of sunlight, temperatures, they quickly collapse.

Researchers placed them in a microcapsule, inside of which there is the necessary nutritional supply for fungal strains, and the shell reliably protects from external influences. As a result of the experiments, locust mortality occurred at 90%, and the crop was not attacked by pests for a month. When the drug is patented and “overgrown” with relevant documents, it is possible that humanity will receive an effective tool to combat locust invasions. Another question is that its price will not be cheap. The microencapsulation process increases the cost of the product several times.

How to destroy locusts in a garden

While the researchers pore in the laboratories, the locusts do not sleep. And if the ordinary gardener is not yet able to cope with the invasion of a multimillion-dollar flock, he can completely eradicate rare settlers.

Memo how to deal with locusts:

• If an adult or an egg is found, destroy it immediately mechanically.
• Dig the soil deep in late summer to locate and neutralize the locust pods. In the same period, you can burn plant debris, stubble. This will eliminate locust eggs that are on the surface of the soil. But as a rule, most of the egg capsules are at a depth of 5-7 cm, so burning out will not help to completely get rid of the egg-laying.
• Chemical tillage is most effective before starting sowing seeds, planting plants. To do this, use funds from the group of pyrethroids: "Taran", "Caesar", "Karate", "Fastak". The working solution is prepared in accordance with the instructions. If the treatment is carried out at the end of May, June, when locust larvae are 2 or 3 years old, organophosphorus preparations are additionally added to the solution.
• During the invasion period, plant protection products are treated with imidacloprid-based products: Image, Tanker.
• Late autumn, agricultural activities are held, including plowing, cultivation.

To control locusts, natural enemies are also used: reptiles, bugs, buzzards, birds.