The cruciferous bug: what it looks like, how it harms on cabbage, rapeseed, why it is so difficult to get rid of, control measures

Reader Question:

Arina

This year I decided to do a vegetable garden. At the end of winter I planted cabbage seedlings at home, in the spring I transferred all the sprouts to the open ground. All went well until mid-summer, when I noticed signs of wilting, yellowing of the heads. The harvest was clearly disappearing, I could not remove it - it was too early. I was left to watch for the inevitable. But I accepted the first experience, I believe that the result is already good - after all, the heads of cabbage began to grow, formed.
Осталось дело за малым – понять, что случилось. Я изучила много информации, по признакам похоже, что урожай подтачивали крестоцветные клопы. Это их основной источник пищи, видимо, насекомых стало много, т. к. спасти растения я не успела. В следующем году хочу подготовиться лучше: начиная с почвы и заканчивая обработкой. Для себя определила самые важные вопросы: как распознать таких клопов, почему они вредны, что нужно делать для защиты урожая. Помогите разобраться, пожалуйста, по всем пунктам. Заранее благодарю. Арина.

The author of the portal answers the question:

The cruciferous bug: what it looks like and how it reproduces. Close-up photos

Cruciferous bugs in most cases produce only 1 offspring per season.

This is the main peculiarity of pests living in the regions of the middle belt of the country. In the south, representatives of some species promote the emergence of 2-4 generations of insects. A clutch contains 12 eggs (6 in a row). Larvae develop inside shells for 1-2 weeks. Full formation of adults takes 4 weeks. During this time the larvae increase in size to the desired size. In addition, wings appear, which were not present at the initial stage of development.

Peculiarities of adult behavior

On cabbage and other cruciferous crops, the insects begin to parasitize in late spring.

Immediately after coming out of hibernation (in mid-spring), bed bugs need food, so they suck the juices out of weeds.

Nooks for eggs and larvae

Insects make a clutch on leaves and stems. But it is not easy to notice it. This is explained by the fact that the eggs are located on the leaves on the back side.

To detect the offspring of the cruciferous bug, you need to inspect the plants.

It is recommended to turn the leaves. This is a time-consuming task, because the entire above-ground part of the plants must be inspected all over the site.

Types of cruciferous bugs

There are about 30 species of insects of this group. Only half of them are found in Russia. The cruciferous bug of each species differs in appearance.

Cabbage (E. ventralis)

In spite of its name, this pest, besides cabbage, also prefers other crops: rutabaga, radish, radish, and turnip. It is also satisfied with wild plants of this group. The pest is about 10 mm long and has a red-black coloration. Embryos develop inside eggs for 6-12 days.

The female can lay up to 300 eggs.

Bed bugs that live in southern regions, make the second frame in mid-summer, closer to August.

Mustard (E. ornata)

This pest can be considered a universal pest. It destroys different cruciferous crops (cabbage, radish, radish) with equal appetite, but is also not indifferent to oil-bearing plants: mustard, rye, rapeseed.

Interestingly, the mustard bug is more often found on wild plants than on cultivated plants.

Its life style and developmental period are the same as those of its cabbage counterpart. The insect differs in coloration: it has a convex pronotum of black color.

Rapeseed (Eurydema oleracea)

This pest is a member of the shield family. It prefers to destroy rape and cabbage, but also other cruciferous crops. The pattern on the abdomen is interesting: light spots (yellowish, reddish) on a dark background (blue or green).

The bug of this species is found in Europe, Asia, but it is not found in northern regions.

This indicates that the pest is heat-loving.

Northern cruciferous bug

Other names: northern eurydema, red cabbage bug. It is referred to the Shieldworts. It is found in the Far East of Russia, but not in the northernmost regions. In addition, it lives in the forest-steppe zone and steppe. Its body length is less than that of its fellows of other species, about 8 mm. The pronotum is spotted. The coloration is almost the same as that of the other species: black, deep blue, yellow, red - these shades are combined (darker with lighter ones).

Siberian bedbug

Such pests also have bright outer covers. The Siberian bug has 4-6 dark-colored spots on the pronotum, sometimes they form 2 spots. There are light-colored stripes along the edges of the shield.

Insects of this species affect wild and cultivated varieties of cruciferous crops.

Central Asian cabbage bug

In appearance, these pests do not differ from their Siberian counterparts. The coloring of the outer covers is in black-yellow, black-red colors. Black and white bed bugs are also found. They live in Central Asian countries. Food habits: rape, cabbage, mustard. Otherwise, the peculiarities of pests of this and other species are similar.

Agricultural damage of the cruciferous bug

If plants are heavily infested, it is impossible to save them because larvae (especially in southern regions) and adults destroy them quickly enough.

When insects damage the leaves, at the same time the structure of the whole ground part is disturbed. If you manage to grow such a cabbage, it will still rot over time. In this case, a specific smell appears and the surface is covered with mucus.

What control measures to use to protect against cruciferous bugs

The insects produce numerous offspring, and some produce up to 4 generations per season. This leads to a rapid infestation of the entire vegetable garden.

The best way to fight is to use a combined method.

In this case, several different types of remedies are used at once or alternately. They differ in effectiveness. But the complex method of treating the site smoothes out the disadvantages of each of them and shows the advantages.

Folk remedies

Such methods are most often used to create unacceptable conditions for insects.

They discourage a strong odor, but do not kill the pests.

If cruciferous bed bugs have appeared, herbal and soap-based control measures are used when insects are still scarce. Effective remedies:

• Take 300 grams of crushed soap, add it to 1 bucket of water, when the chips dissolve, spray the affected plants with the solution;
• use garlic infusion: take 1 kg, crush, pour water (5 liters), after 4 hours should be boiled over low heat for 3 hours, the finished broth should be filtered, diluted with water before use at a ratio of 1:1.

Sarah, 26

I regularly spray the plants with a soapy solution (every week). I once lost a crop of cabbage to these insects. Now I reinsure myself this way, so far it helps.

Grandmother's ways

Some remedies have been used year after year for many decades. They were used even by our ancestors, as they became convinced of the effectiveness of such methods. Effective ancient recipes:

• wormwood and tansy are placed around the plot, the smell of these plants is not tolerated by cruciferous bugs, and the development of cabbage and other crops it does not interfere in any way;
• a mixture of sand and tobacco, to prepare the agent take components in equal proportions, it is scattered on the site before the period of activity of insects - in late spring, subsequently it is recommended to repeat the procedure every 2 weeks.

Use of chemicals

Preparations based insecticides are used when the area is heavily infested, because the poisons are highly effective. Spray funds of this species is necessary 2 times just before the adults will make a clutch of eggs: in late spring and mid-summer.

And it is important to spray insecticides no later than 30 days before harvest.

The treatment is carried out under a number of conditions:

• The weather is overcast, not rainy;
• no wind;
• Protective equipment is used: mask, goggles, gloves, closed clothes and shoes, headscarf.

Examples of preparations that are used at the site:

Victor42 years

I have tried almost all control measures over the years. If the insecticide poisons the plants, then the folk remedies, although safe, are not always effective. Here's how to fight under such conditions... I decided to combine different methods. First the insecticide, and then throughout the summer until the harvest - soap solution.

Agrotechnical measures

If one chooses a method to control cruciferous bugs, it is possible to create unsuitable conditions for them at the planting stage:

Wintering

Another control measure is to kill the pests while they are in diapause. Such a phase comes when it gets colder. To survive the winter, insects seek shelter - in the substrate of old leaves, weeds. If no one has removed plant debris, this should be done in winter.

Insects will be removed from the site along with the substrate.

This method is a combined option when waiting until winter to perform mechanical collection of pests on the plot and surrounding areas. However, it is not always possible to remove all individuals, some are carefully hidden, but in the spring it is easier to kill a small number of bed bugs than an entire colony.

Help from natural enemies

For crucifers pests there is another threat - the appearance of insects of certain species. For example, bedbug eggs are harmed by trissolcus. The phasian fly destroys sexually mature specimens. Man cannot control the number of these pests, so in this case you have to rely on the mercy of nature.

Purposely destroy natural enemies The cruciferous bug should not be used precisely because of the likely benefit to the plantation, and thus to humans as well.

Preventive resettlement measures

People use a variety of methods to reduce the number of insects on cruciferous plants. This helps to prevent bed bugs from settling in the area.

Insects become fewer or they leave the area altogether.

Preventive measures that are characterized by effectiveness:

Video overview of cruciferous bug, the main differences, how to protect the garden

Vegetable gardeners' reviews

Expert advice

Anna

Entomologist, researcher. Work experience of 16 years.

- get rid of bed bugs will help a number of measures if you do not want to use insecticides: bed bugs do not reproduce when there are no eggs, so you need to constantly remove the clutch from the leaves or cut off infested parts of plants, but sometimes bed bugs come from neighboring areas, so you should at least use deterrents - solutions (soap, garlic, onion);
- After collection, the leaf liner and plant debris should be dried in a closed container and then burned, this will help prevent the reappearance of bed bugs;
- when insects appear in the area after hibernation, they do not immediately look for cruciferous crops, but infest the weeds, so after winter there should be no leafy substrate (where pests may have remained from the fall), or young plants.

Conclusion

Cruciferous pests inhabit areas where they find suitable food for themselves. Cabbage, radish, and radish are used for this purpose. But bugs are not limited to such plants, they also destroy other cruciferous crops. Some of the other pests are more common: rapeseed, northern, Siberian and some others. To get them out of the plot, you need to learn more about these insects:

1. The body length is 5-10 mm and the body shape is oval. A bright coloration can be seen on the pronotum, with one of the colors being dark (black, blue) and the other being light (red, white, yellow).
2. They cause damage to plants: they suck out the sap, leaving yellow spots all over the leaf. The insects destroy not only the green part, but also the flowers.
3. Regular feeding of bugs on cruciferous plants results in deformed shoots and reduced yields. Due to the introduction of a special enzyme into the tissues, the properties of fruits deteriorate. Chemical and folk remedies, as well as agrotechnical methods are used to destroy them.