How to drive a cruciferous flea from the garden

As soon as the first seedlings appear in spring or plant seedlings, they are immediately occupied by insects starving for winter. The cruciferous flea is most active in the garden. The petty dirty trick has nothing to do with true fleas. He got this name because of his jumping abilities. And cruciferous is called for the love of the cultures of the same name. The fragile young plants can destroy a large population of cruciferous fleas in a matter of days. Therefore, knowledge about what a pest looks like and what available methods can be effectively combated with it will not be superfluous.

Biological features of the cruciferous flea

Insects belong to the leaf beetle family. Widely distributed in Europe, the Caucasus, Asia, Western Siberia. All representatives are characterized by an elongated body, the dimensions of which do not exceed 3 mm. Color is determined by species. In the picture of the cruciferous flea, attention is attracted by the long antennae, consisting of 11 segments.

You can distinguish from other small pests of cruciferous fleas by characteristic jumps. "Jumpers" are able to migrate and overcome long distances, thanks to which they are rapidly spreading to new territories.

Species diversity

There are several species of cruciferous pests in the world fauna. The most common include the following:

• Southern cruciferous, it is also black - the most dangerous representative of its family in flea habitats. Adults gnaw leaves, larvae damage the young root system. The main difference between fleas is the black color of the body with a metallic sheen. The head and elytra are covered with rough dots. Body length from 2 to 3 mm.
• Light-footed - an inhabitant of the forest strip in the southern regions. Adults gnaw leaves, young individuals harm by mining leaf blades. A distinctive feature of the light-footed cruciferous flea is the tar strip on the elytra, which tapers smoothly in the anterior fragment and the color of the back and head is black with a bottle-tint. The length of the body is from 2.5 to 3.5 mm. The paws are yellow.
  
• The notch is characterized by a black wide suture stripe in the middle part of the elytra or a yellow edging with deep dents. Dimensions do not exceed 2.5 mm. Notched cruciferous fleas are pests of crops in Yakutia, Primorye, and the Amur Region. Adults skeletonize leaves, and larvae live in the ground and damage roots.
• The wavy species lives in the northern part of Europe, in the Urals, in Siberia, in the Far East. Adult beetles, like relatives, gnaw out foliage. Larvae prefer lateral roots. A characteristic feature is a wide black parasol strip with bordering yellow, light brown stripes. Pronotum and head of black tint.

On a note! Insects damage not only crops, but also ornamental and wild ones.Cruciferous fleas are populated with mustard, a shepherd’s bag, colza, rutabaga, spinach, lettuce, cabbage, radishes, young horseradish leaves, turnips, rapeseed, alissum, and matthiola.

Lifestyle

Despite the species, in winter, cruciferous fleas are carried out in adulthood in the surface layers of the earth, under plant debris. With the onset of heat, they leave their shelters and migrate to weeds, which serve as intermediate nutrition. When the first shoots of horseradish and radish appear, cruciferous fleas migrate to them. Insects are not particularly picky in food, but nevertheless pests show a special love for seedlings of cabbage and its young leaves during the formation of the rosette. Farmers also note the appearance in the first, second decade of May, the appearance of a cruciferous flea on rape.

Adult individuals scrape the skin off the leaves and absorb juicy nutrient tissues, leaving behind specific holes. At a temperature of + 15 ° C, fleas begin to multiply actively. Females lay tiny, oblong yellowish eggs in the soil, where subsequently the development of larvae occurs, which are fed by the roots of plants. The size of the eggs is only about, 3-0.4 mm in length. The larvae have a thin caramel-colored body on 3 pairs of legs.

The exception is the light-footed cruciferous flea, laying eggs on the leaves of radish, radish. The development of the larvae takes place inside the leaf mass, where they make mines. Egg laying starts from the end of June and continues until the end of July. Timing variations may occur depending on geographic location.

Larvae hatch after 4-14 days. The final stage of development - pupation occurs in the soil in early August. Young beetles that come to the surface continue to harm in the gardens, and in the fall they go into the ground for wintering.

On a note! Increased activity of cruciferous fleas takes place in the hot season. Significant population growth is recorded during periods of drought. Rainy weather holds back pests.

Harmfulness of small insects

On the cabbage, cruciferous fleas gnaw indentations similar to sores. It is interesting that they only eat juicy young leaves, and the old ones do not touch. Beetles pose a great danger for seedlings and young shoots. The fragile seedlings on which the insects have settled have yellow leaves, they begin to wither. If the plant has 50 individuals or more, tiny aggressors are able to completely destroy the plantation in 2-3 days.

How to get rid of a pest

How to deal with the cruciferous flea, is determined by the size of the population, the phase of development of the plant. It is worth noting that manual collection is an ineffective event, given the miniature dimensions of the bug and its jumping ability.

Agrotechnical measures to combat cruciferous flea:

• Insects spend the winter period in the soil or in the plant litter. Therefore, timely cleaning of all plant debris from the garden will significantly reduce the number of fleas and other pests.
• For the same purpose, in the autumn, deep plowing of the land is carried out. Once on the surface, wintering bugs will die from frost.
• Permanent harvesting of weeds, especially cruciferous. It is also important to ensure that weed seeds do not crumble during disposal. Having lost the source of food that individuals use after wintering, the pests will have no choice but to migrate to other sites in search of food supply.
• Fertilizing plants with fertilizers will help reduce the harmfulness of cruciferous beetles.

The fight against cruciferous flea on cabbage begins at the stage of planting seedlings. It is recommended to plant as early as possible or plant seeds in early spring under the film, in greenhouses. So, to the appearance of a population of beetles, the plant will have time to grow stronger, the leaves will become coarser and the insects will not flatter seedlings.

Plants such as turnips and turnips are often planted, on the contrary, very late. As a result, shoots appear when the peak of cruciferous flea has already passed.

Wells with planted seedlings are mulched by stepsons of tomatoes or tansy. On hot days, the beds are shaded or covered with agrofiber. The edges should be fixed and sprinkled with wood ash or hot pepper around the perimeter. To scare away the cruciferous flea, agricultural or ornamental crops are watered with the addition of vinegar, chopped cloves of garlic, wormwood or foliage of dandelion, dill, caraway seeds.

Catching bugs

Traps are an effective, safe remedy for the cruciferous flea. The manufacture of devices does not take much time and does not require significant financial costs. How to make a trap yourself:

• Build from the means at hand a kind of flags. It can be pegs with attached canvas or plywood, cardboard blanks. Lubricate one side of the cloth with any adhesive (glue, honey, garden var, solid oil). Take in hand the attribute obtained and walk with it along the beds, running the lower part along the plants. Fleas are very shy and will actively jump and stick to the sticky fragment. When insects stick to a fair amount, remove them and repeat the process. Flag exercise is most effective in hot hours and in dry weather.
• Make a cone out of cardboard so that it can completely cover the plant. On the inside also grease with glue and alternately cover the seedlings. A certain part of the fleas will adhere to the cap.
  
• A less time-consuming option is to spread glue-coated plywood along the beds. When moving along the ground, between plants, insects will adhere to simple designs. You can also use rags moistened with used car oil.
• A similar effect is achieved by low flat containers of water, in which you need to add a little kerosene or vegetable oil so that the captives could not get out of the trap.

Important! Traps with glue, kerosene, diesel oil during periods of rains should be removed so that harmful components are not absorbed into the soil.

Proven folk recipes

Folk remedies against cruciferous fleas have been accumulating for decades. The most effective and well-established among gardeners are as follows:

• Powder dusting of plants with wood ash or tobacco dust, lime, shag, ground pepper. It has been observed that beetles are unusually “clean” and do not encroach on dirty leaves. The most inventive gardeners sprinkle young seedlings with furnace soot. After precipitation, the procedure is repeated.
• Planting along the beds of plants that scare off cruciferous fleas. These include garlic, dill, calendula, coriander, marigolds.
• Near the holes lay fresh or dried wormwood grass.

Plants can be treated from cruciferous fleas with the following decoctions and tinctures:

• a bucket of water, 2 cups of ash and 50 g of crushed tar or green soap;
• to spray leaves mix a liter of water and a glass of vinegar;
• Grind 250 g of freshly skinned dandelions along with rhizomes and pour 5 liters of warm water, let it brew, add a bar of soap to improve adhesion;
• in a similar way, a mixture of tomato tops (1 cup) and a glass of garlic is prepared;
• infusion of chicken droppings (1:20) is infused for several days, after which they are sprayed with foliage.

On a note! It is advisable to spray the plants in the morning or evening hours.

Chemicals

If with the help of folk remedies it was not possible to stop the aggressor, then insecticides from cruciferous fleas will help. More than 5 bugs on one plant is a serious reason to think about the use of chemicals. The tool is recommended to initially test on one object. If after a day his condition has not worsened, then you can process the rest of the plants.

On a note! In the case when it suddenly rains after processing, the procedure is repeated again.

Preparations from cruciferous flea for cabbage are presented in specialized stores in a large assortment. Here are just a few of them: Decis, Intavir, Karate, Aktaru, Actellik, Bassoon, Zapellin, Tabazol, Fitoverm, Aktofit. Before using the funds, you should carefully read the instructions and avoid overdose when diluting the working mixture.