How remarkable is the Colorado potato beetle, what does it eat and how does it breed?

The Colorado potato beetle is a real punishment for gardeners and gardeners. He mercilessly destroys the plantations of nightshade, leaving no chance to either young shoots or adult plants. Most of all other crops, this insect prefers just potatoes, but in the absence of one, it will be completely satisfied with other plants, including wild plants.

Description

The Colorado potato beetle is a representative of the leaf beetle family belonging to the winged beetle squad. Both adult individuals and larvae feed mainly on foliage of cultivated nightshade plants, less often floral and wild nightshade ones.

The structure of the Colorado potato beetle will be as follows:

• the body is ovoid, oval, its upper part is convex, the lower is flat, its length can be from 7 to 12 mm, and its width is from 4.5 to 10 mm;
• the head is hardly noticeable, as it is slightly retracted and located almost vertically, has a rounded shape, wider than long; there is a black mark on the head resembling a triangle with equal sides;
• on the head there are eyes, represented by a bean-shaped form, black, located on the sides;
• at the level of the anterior eye region there are antennae consisting of eleven segments, the first five of which are colored brown, the rest are black;
• elytra hard, tight-fitting to the body, the main color is yellow, and each has five longitudinal black stripes;
• thin and weak legs have a special structure, thanks to which the Colorado potato beetle can only crawl;
• the abdomen is light orange and is divided into seven segments, along which black spots pass in rows.

Often, females of the Colorado potato beetle do not look like males. The first, as a rule, are larger and weigh slightly more. The wintered representative of the male half on average can weigh 145 mg, the female - 160 mg.

Homeland and distribution

The birthplace of the Colorado potato beetle is Mexico. And this insect got its name thanks to an event that happened in 1859. Hordes of these pests attacked and devastated the huge potato plantings in Colorado. A little later, after about 17 years, the parasite was in the north and was already destroying the potato fields cultivated by immigrants.

Later, the Colorado potato beetle on imported potato tubers reached the western part of Europe. In the second half of the XX century, he reached France and at the end of the Second World War he was at the border of the USSR.

Not many people know where the Colorado potato beetle came from in our gardens. His first attacks were discovered in Volyn in the 20th century. However, at that time the threat was stopped - the quarantine services and collective farmers did everything possible to protect their land. However, favorable temperature and weather conditions contributed to the advancement of the pest deep into Russia, where it had an inexhaustible source of food, began to multiply at an incredibly fast pace, and soon acquired the status of internal quarantine.

Life cycle

In winter, adult individuals go deep into the ground, and with the onset of spring heat, they immediately crawl to the surface and attack the next young shoots. Reproduction of the Colorado potato beetle begins at an air temperature of + 10 ... 12 ° C. Moreover, if the female managed to mate before leaving for the winter, then in the spring after awakening, when favorable conditions occur, she immediately begins to lay her eggs.

The first individuals that emerged from the earth after hibernation are very weak, but if there is a source of saturation nearby, they quickly gain strength. When the air temperature rises to a mark of + 13 ... 15 ° C, mass awakening begins when individuals with high reproductive ability creep out into the light.

On a note! In general, the time for the release of insects takes about a month and a half - it all depends on environmental conditions!

Eggs

One laying of a female Colorado potato beetle can number about 30 eggs, sometimes 70. If the ambient temperature is within + 20 ... 22 ° C with an air humidity of about 70%, then it will take one to two and a half weeks to develop the eggs. But when the mark of the thermometer drops to + 10 ... 12 ° C, then the development inside the egg will immediately stop.

The eggs of these insects have an oblong shape and are presented in the form of an oval. Their surface is smooth and shiny, the length is from 1.7 to 1.8 mm, the width is about 0.8 mm. As soon as the female has laid, all eggs will be painted in bright yellow color, over time they will darken and become almost orange.

In one day, the female is able to lay 5-80 eggs, in the summer - about 700. And the number of new generations will depend on weather and climatic conditions.

Larvae

Depending on environmental conditions, the larva of the Colorado potato beetle is born from the egg after 5-17 days. Some of its external characteristics will depend on age and nutrition, but the body structure at all stages of development will be the same:

• the body is fleshy, bottom is flat, the upper part is convex;
• on the front of the body are three pairs of legs, they are short and painted black;
• on both sides of the body are black warts, which are located in two rows;
• the head is small, black.

There are 4 stages of development of the larva of the Colorado potato beetle:

• first age - the body is covered with hairs, from 1.5 to 2.4 mm long, painted in dark gray, feeds on the lower part of the leaf pulp;
• the second age - the body has an intense red color, its length is from 2.5 to 4.5 mm, pubescent with sparser hairs, eats all the flesh of sheet platinum, leaving only streaks;
• third age - body length from 4.6 to 9 mm, a shade of brick;
• the fourth age - a body with a length of 9 to 15 mm, color from orange-yellow to red-yellow.

At the end of each developmental stage, the larva undergoes molting. These babies feed quite intensively and after 15-20 days they sink into the soil to a depth of about 10 cm to pupate.

Doll

From 10 to 20 days pass from larva to pupa - this value will depend on soil temperature. The pupa has a pink or orange-yellow body, whose length can be about 9.2 mm, width - 6.4 mm, and its appearance is similar to an adult beetle. If pupation occurs in autumn, the formed beetle does not creep to the surface, but remains in the ground for wintering.

But after a few hours, their body becomes darker, almost brown.

The habitat of the Colorado potato beetle is nightshade cultures, and habitats are any open areas, and adult individuals and voracious larvae can maintain their activity in the daytime.

As an adult, this pest gains fat reserves for 1-3 weeks. And when the weather is especially hot, thanks to energy deposits, he is capable of long-distance flights. And if the wind is quite strong, then in such conditions flocks of pests can fly tens of kilometers from the center of exit from the eggs.

Source of power

What does the Colorado potato beetle eat? The main delicacy for him is cultivated nightshade plants, mainly potatoes. These bugs can absorb it in any form. When a young stem appears on the surface, the pest absorbs succulent shoots, and gradually, as the crop grows, sinks to ripened tubers.

For these reasons, it is very important to start the fight against the parasite in time, since its gradual movement through the growing culture will lead to its death. From this it becomes clear what harm the Colorado potato beetle does. And if you take into account the fact that it grows its number incredibly quickly, then all the fruits growing on your site may be at risk.

The insect begins to eat foliage of nightshade in April and its meal can last until August. And if there is no potato nearby, then the insect moves to:

• Tomatoes
• eggplant;
• Bell pepper;
• dereza;
• bleach;
• physalis.

Moreover, the main pest is not an adult Colorado potato beetle, but its larvae, since their body needs a large amount of energy to develop.

Help destroy Colorado potato beetle

In the countries of the former CIS, there are some beetles and birds that eat the Colorado potato beetle. There are not so many varieties, but still they are able to some extent help us get rid of gluttonous insects.

1. Ladybug - eats eggs and young larvae of the Colorado potato beetle.
2. Lacewing - outwardly this insect looks like a midge, but in relation to pests it is universal. A lacewing, along with a ladybug, can destroy egg clutches and small larvae of the Colorado potato beetle. It is powerless against adults.
3. Creeper - a predatory fly. As in the case of the above-described applicants, she is able to assist the gardener only at the first stages of the development of the pest.
4. Guinea fowl and turkey - this poultry is sometimes bred for the purpose of protecting nightshade plantings. Unlike insects, the bird is able to eat adults. And in order to accustom her to such a diet, it’s enough to mix Colorado beetles for food for some time, and after guinea fowl and turkeys they themselves will walk around the garden and collect insects from leaves and stems.

Interesting Facts

1. The Colorado potato beetle flies mainly in the presence of wind and is capable of speeds up to 7 km / h.
2. These insects can survive the harshest winter, as an adult can go into the ground to a depth of about 70 cm.
3. Survival record holder - he overcomes the hungry years, falling into a pause for 3 years.
4. When the Colorado potato beetle feels danger, he falls back and pretends to be dead.
5. The larvae are painted in an intense orange color, since the main coloring matter in their body is carotene.
6. The accumulation of toxins on the body of the pest makes it virtually invulnerable, for this reason it has very few natural enemies.