With the onset of spring, a large number of diverse insects wake up. Avid gardeners know how unpleasant some of them can be, for example, the May beetle (Melolontha melolontha). First you need to figure out who this is, what harm it can cause to the garden. Let's take a quick look at the stages of insect development, then it will become clear how to get rid of cockchafer larvae on your site.
Recommendations on how to get rid of cockchafer larvae
The insect's flight begins at a time when the soil is warmed up to 9-13°, and the air is more than 10° - just at this time, the leaves of the cherry tree begin to bloom, and active flowering of the apricot begins.
Appearance of an insect
The beetle is brown-yellow in color with a black chest and has black or red legs. The brown antennae of the insect have a club, where the female has 6 plates and the male has 7. The size of the beetle is a maximum of 3.5 cm.
The eggs of the beetle are oval, white-yellow in color, and the pupa is yellowish and open. The C-shaped larvae are folded and quite fleshy, they have a black head, and they themselves are off-white in color. The larva has two clamping fangs on its head.
By the way, in the compost and in the garden it is impossible to distinguish the larvae of the beetle and bronze (Cetonia aurata), for example, these beauties are almost impossible to identify:
About N years ago, we somehow accidentally grabbed such a larva with compost in a home container - we decided to sow greens for the winter. She mowed down all the crops, and only by the swollen earth did we guess that someone lived there.
Although in compost and organic beds richly filled with organic matter, the larvae of the bronze beetle are very useful - they feed on dead organic matter and help process it. The larvae have all the external differences - the bronze larva has significantly shorter legs compared to the Khrushchev.
Development of Khrushchev
The development of the cockchafer consists of the following stages: egg, larva, then pupa and adult insect (imago). It was not possible to obtain a photo of the pupa anywhere, so this time it was not possible to create a collage of the stages of insect development. And an adult bug looks like this:
In mid-June, the female lays eggs, and after one or a month and a half, new offspring appear - larvae. They live in the soil for three to four years. During this period they go through several molts.
In the summer, in the last year of its development, the cockchafer larva will become a pupa, which is similar to an already mature insect, but has underdeveloped wings and a pale color. At this stage of development, the insect’s visual organs are formed, limbs and wings grow, by the end of summer a full-fledged beetle is formed, but it will fly out only in the spring.
Important! Mostly the female lays eggs in places where there is humus or manure. It is better to cover heaps of organic matter with dense, impermeable material during the laying period.
What do larvae and adult cockchafers eat?
So, what does the May beetle larva eat? At first, the larva has a poorly developed oral organ (first year), at which time it consumes plant waste, humus and weak roots. Further, with a more developed mouthpart of the gnawing type (after about three years of development), the insect becomes more voracious and can gnaw through fairly dense plant rhizomes, which causes considerable damage in the garden beds.
Khrushchev larvae eat the roots of strawberries, various fruit and berry bushes (they love raspberries, oh well), trees. They can eat lawn grass and love vegetables and seedlings. They do not abandon the roots of trees such as spruce, cedar, birch and pine. And this is not the entire list of their preferences; they are clearly not picky about food.
An adult beetle feeds for two months, this is approximately the end of April - mid-June, just the period of active summer and reproduction. But what the cockchafer eats can be answered by the fruit and berry bushes and trees it eats. It eats the foliage and flowers of apple trees, plums and sea buckthorn, currants, cherries, and so on. Consumes young foliage of birch, maple, lilac and many other ornamental trees and flowers. Over a two-month period, the insect manages to cause irreparable damage - the cockchafer, without exaggeration, can be called a thunderstorm for gardens and vegetable gardens.
The best ways to remove cockchafer larvae
- In warm spring and summer, you can collect larvae by hand when digging the soil, but if the soil is too dry, the larvae are taken too deep; usually they can be found at a depth of up to twenty cm. This method is not entirely suitable for supporters of natural farming, and the larvae can also be collected only partially.
- A less labor-intensive and environmentally friendly method would be to sod the soil. Nitrogen-fixing bacteria live in the root system of white clover, which actively absorb and produce nitrogen; beetleworm larvae will not live in such soil, and the female insects will not like such a place to lay eggs; they will fly off to look for another.
- Khrushchev larvae are an excellent food for rooks, starlings and thrushes. Why not attract these insectivores to your site? Moreover, to do this you just need to put up bird feeders. Hedgehogs like to feast on adult individuals and larvae of the beetle, if such a neighbor appears on the site, there is no need to drive him away.
- A good folk method of fighting insects is watering with a solution of onion peel infusion. It’s prepared like this: pour ⅓ of the husk into a bucket, add water to the brim and leave for 5 days. The prepared infusion should be diluted one to one with water. The soil needs to be watered throughout the entire period of growth and development of the insect.
- There is one old tried and tested method - shaking off adult beetles every day. This should be done during the most active flight. To carry out the procedure, it is better to choose a cool time of day; early morning is suitable (at a temperature of about 15°, the beetle is in a daze).
- You can protect the soil and prevent the beetle from easily and unhindered penetration by mulching. Using wood shavings, chopped bark or straw.
- The May beetle does not like the smell of cruciferous plants, lupine and elderberry. You can plant turnips or turnips. Cabbage leaves and mustard shoots can be placed directly into the soil, or they can be laid out on the surface of the beds.
- Preparations such as ─ “Aktofit”, “Fitoverm” and “Boverin” have biological components, they are able to quickly defeat the beetle larva and do not harm beneficial insects. And whoever has Nemabact on sale is generally in an advantageous position - a compost spilled with this biological product will save you from beetle larvae for a long time.
- You can build traps for Khrushchev:
- First method: You need to cut off the top of a two-liter plastic bottle (about 5 cm), make holes for a cord on which the bottle can be hung on tree branches. Pour an attractive liquid inside the bottle, for example, fermented jam or kvass. From time to time, any beetles found need to be removed.
- Second method: A not very deep container should be coated with grease or insect glue and any light source should be placed in the middle of the container; as soon as it becomes dark outside, the beetles will flock to the heat from the light and will not be able to get back out.
- Third method: Similar to the second, it also uses light to attract. You need to take a container of medium depth (a three-liter jar will do), build a funnel and place its narrow part in the neck of the jar. Any light source must be placed above the funnel. The beetles will fly towards the light, fall into a funnel, and from there into a jar from which they will not be able to get out.
Well, don’t forget that in addition to birds and hedgehogs, entomophagous insects bring enormous benefits. Here is a video about how a ground beetle quickly deals with such a larva:
There's also a cool one on sale bioprotection against Khrushchev larvae - “Protection” soil (substrate impregnated with “Nemabakt”). This is a very safe and effective biological product with predatory nematodes and bacteria symbiotic with them. Penetrating inside the larvae, they destroy and eat the beetle from the inside, leaving only an empty shell. In a matter of days (2-3 days), bacteria decompose the internal organs of the larvae, and the nematodes eat them and leave the shell. At the same time, they take root well on the site and winter quietly in the open ground. So take note of this biosoil - it is added when planting cultivated plants, a tablespoon per hole.
Intermediate crops in the garden
If the best way in the garden is to seed with clover, then green manure such as buckwheat should be planted in the beds. It not only reduces the beetleworm population, but also heals the soil, improves its air and moisture permeability, and provides an increase in nutrients.
When the stages of development and life activity of the pest are clarified, it becomes clear that it is necessary to get rid of the beetle in early spring. And the presented tips and methods of protection from insects will help you figure out how to get rid of cockchafer larvae using the most environmentally friendly methods.
Adult individuals of the cockchafer cause damage mainly to tree crops; they love to eat the leaves of rowan, oak, linden, maple, poplar and other trees. Much more dangerous are the beetle larvae, which eat any plants they encounter on their way.
If there is only one larva per 1 square meter of plot, you already need to sound the alarm and begin to destroy the pest throughout the entire garden. It is better, of course, to prevent the appearance of Khrushchev in the garden with preventive measures. If you bring manure to your site, then most likely you will also bring beetles along with it, since compost and manure are the cockchafer’s favorite places to lay larvae. One female can lay 70-200 eggs per season.
May beetle larva, photo
The larvae live in the soil for 4 years, this is exactly the time it takes to develop into adults and transform into ordinary cockchafers, as we are used to seeing them - shiny, large (3-4 cm), very dense, black beetles. The larva should also be very familiar to you - it is a yellowish caterpillar with a black head, curled up in a ring. At all times, except for the dormant period in winter, these pests eat both above-ground and underground parts of plants. The damage caused by the cockchafer to strawberries, potatoes, many flowers and even the lawn is especially noticeable.
Bazudin against the cockchafer
An insecticide that kills soil pests by contact, intestinal and translaminar routes. The active ingredient is diazinon. The drug provides long-term protection of crops from insects. 30 grams of insecticide is enough to treat 20 square meters of area.
Available in granule form. To evenly apply bazodin to the soil, you should mix the required amount of the drug with sand in a liter jar (sand 3/4 of the jar).
- Before planting potatoes, add 15 g per 10 sq.m. to the hole.
- To protect cabbage, the soil surface is treated at the rate of 10 g per 10 sq.m.
- Flower crops are processed similarly to potatoes.
Nemabact from Khrushchev
This is a biological product based on a nematode; it selectively destroys beetle larvae and maintains balance in the soil for 2 years. The drug kills the beetle larva within 1-3 days. This product must be used when watering, diluted in a ratio of 1:100. Nemabact acts at an ambient temperature of +10-+26 degrees. It is absolutely harmless to humans and pets.
Zemlin vs Khrushchev
This is an effective remedy for Khrushchev. It is an insecticide for contact and intestinal damage. Protects cultivated plants from most soil pests. The active ingredient in the composition is diazinon at a dosage of 50 g/kg.
- To protect flower plants, the drug is sprayed over the surface of the earth in a dosage of 30 grams per 20 sq.m.
- Potatoes are processed by adding 10-15 g of the mixture into the holes when planting.
How to get rid of cockchafer larvae using folk remedies
- Manual collection of adult beetles. Since they feed mainly on tree leaves, early in the morning you can shake the beetles off the tree onto a prepared litter and then destroy them.
- It is much more difficult with the larvae, since they live in the soil, sometimes at a depth of 40 cm. As a preventive measure, autumn and spring plowing of the soil is recommended.
- It helps to plant white clover, peas, beans, legumes around the beds with cultivated plants - that is, any plants that are nitrogen fixers. Planting turnips and lupines in the area will scare off the adults from the area, which means it will prevent them from laying larvae.
- Adding ground eggshells to the soil will also have a certain effect.
- Using nitrogen fertilizers when digging the soil also helps. May beetle larvae cannot tolerate high nitrogen content in the soil and leave such places.
- And of course the birds. If you have chickens on your farm, then it’s a good idea to let them out to “graze” when digging up the garden - they will peck at all the larvae that have been turned out of the soil to the surface. Many people advise installing birdhouses on the site, since any birds love to feast on beetles and their larvae. But again, many gardeners complain that these same birds happily eat strawberries and other berries.
- Adding a few drops of iodine to the irrigation water will help destroy the beetle in the soil.
- Some gardeners make traps for the cockchafer by digging small holes in the soil and pouring manure into it. And then they destroy the beetle and larvae with fire or boiling water.
- You can save currants and strawberries from beetle by spraying with a solution of onion peels. To do this, 100 grams of husks are infused in 10 liters of water for 5 days. Next, the tincture is diluted with water in a 1:1 ratio and sprayed onto the affected plants and the ground underneath them.
- Watering with water and ammonia will help get rid of cockchafer larvae on strawberries. For 10 liters of water use half a tablespoon of ammonia.
- Plant green manure in the garden and embed them in the soil, this will also protect you from the invasion of the cockchafer. For these purposes, mustard or others from the cruciferous family are best suited. After planting them in early spring and allowing them to grow a little, mow them and plow them into the soil. And then calmly plant potatoes or other cultivated plants in this place - there will be no cockchafer larvae there.
May Khrushchev - what does the pest look like?
The May beetle belongs to the family of lamellar insects, characterized by their large body size. Adults reach 32 mm in length. Their oval-shaped body widens in the middle, the color is dark - from reddish-brown to black. At the end of spring it is mating season; the female lays up to 70 eggs in the ground under the roots of trees. After this, she dies, and after 1.5 months larvae appear from the eggs. They have a pale, thick body with a yellow or brown head, six legs and strong jaws that can handle tree roots.
Attention. In the first year of life, small larvae are not dangerous to the root system; they feed on plant debris found in the soil.
The development of beetles from larva to beetle takes 3-5 years. Grown-up individuals become a disaster in the garden; they are voracious, have no food specialization and eat the roots of any plants. Pests like loose, humus-rich soil. By the fourth year, the larva turns into a pupa, from which a cockchafer emerges a month later.
Young beetles overwinter in the ground at a depth of more than 1 meter. With the onset of warmth, they come out, continuing the breeding cycle on the trees. Throughout their entire life cycle, insects feed on plants, causing irreparable damage to trees, bushes and vegetable crops. How to get rid of Khrushchev in the garden - this question arises for every plot owner. There are many ways to combat the pest, let’s look at the most effective ones.
Interesting! Young beetles (imago) fly up onto trees in May; because of this feature, the name insects appeared.
Harm from cockchafers
Khrushchi are one of the most dangerous pests of agricultural crops and gardens. In the 50s, their growth was stopped using pesticides. In some regions, pests were completely eradicated. The ban on the use of hazardous substances led to the restoration of the number of Khrushchev.
Why are chafers considered harmful pests? Adult insects feed on flowers and tree leaves. Apricot, apple, cherry, birch - pests will like it. They also do not let bushes through - lilacs, currants, raspberries. If uninvited guests can be seen on trees, then the larvae are detected based on the results of their activity. If healthy strawberry or grape bushes begin to wither and turn yellow with good watering, it means that their roots have been eaten by the beetleworm.
The pest is not limited to the roots of bushes, it spoils vegetable crops:
- potato;
- carrot;
- beets;
- corn;
- cabbage
Khrushchev can ruin not only the garden, but also the lawn grass. The larvae cause the greatest harm to plants, so the main control methods are aimed at destroying them.
Khrushchev larva is the main enemy of plants
Attention. Within a week, several May beetles eat all the leaves and flowers from a young tree or bush.
Methods of dealing with Khrushchev
Many methods have been developed to kill pests. They differ in efficiency and degree of environmental impact.
Mechanical and environmentally friendly methods
If you do not want to use chemicals on your site, then use proven methods to combat beetleworm in your garden:
- Digging up the earth. During the autumn digging of the garden, the larvae end up close to the soil surface, where they die in the cold. Before the start of the sowing season, it is worth digging up the ground again; in the spring, the larvae are found at a depth of 20-25 cm. They are easy to detect and collect manually. Once on the surface, the pests become prey for birds.
- You can protect strawberries from pests by planting under agrofibre or mulching the soil. Shredded pine bark, sawdust, and straw are used as mulch. These obstacles will not allow the female beetle to get inside the soil to lay eggs.
Advice. To fertilize strawberries and wild strawberries, humus is often used, which can be contaminated with beetleworm. To avoid bringing pests into your garden beds, you should carefully inspect the fertilizer before applying it.
- Traps and mechanical collection. In the early morning, when it is still cool, the beetles on the branches become numb. Having spread a film under the tree, they are shaken off, and then collected and destroyed. To destroy adult beetles, traps are used:
- Fly stickers hung on a tree are an effective remedy for beetles. Flying beetles stick tightly to the tapes.
- A light trap made from a lamp placed in a container with sticky walls. At night, light attracts insects.
- Plastic bottles with bait in the form of fermented kvass or jam. Cut off the top of the container and turn it upside down. Beetles will fly into the resulting funnel.
Advice. When making a light trap, you can use a portable lamp or a device with a battery. It will help to collect not only cockchafers, but also pest butterflies that fly at night.
- Attracting natural enemies. Khrushchev's natural enemies are starlings and hedgehogs. Birds are capable of destroying huge numbers of beetles and larvae. To lay them down, you need to build a birdhouse. The presence of hedgehogs on the site guarantees quick disposal of May beetles. This small, dexterous predator eats insects with great pleasure. Domestic chickens are also not averse to eating the cockchafer.
Attention. Starlings are omnivorous birds; they will peck not only insects, but also berries on trees. This fact should be taken into account before making a decision about building a birdhouse.
- Planting white clover. Nitrogen bacteria form on the roots of legumes, which repel beetles. These pests do not like nitrogen very much, so nitrogen fertilizers are used to get rid of them. Perennial light-loving clover can be planted on the lawn or near the beds. In addition to clover, pests avoid mustard, turnip and lupine. These plants can be safely planted between rows.
Insecticides for the destruction of larvae
Destroying adult beetles will not help completely get rid of pests, because the main threat is hidden in the ground. Chemical agents against the cockchafer will help protect the roots of seedlings:
- “Anti-Khrushch” - a substance that damages the nervous system of insects: Khrushchev larvae, ticks, caterpillars. It is non-toxic and therefore not dangerous to people and vegetables. The composition is diluted in water (10 ml per 5-10 l), and the soil is treated with it before planting. To protect trees, Antikhrushch is poured under the plant.
- "Aktara" - the drug is effective against a large number of pests. The insecticide acts in the ground and on its surface. Khrushchev and Colorado potato beetles die within a day after use. The effect of the drug lasts 2 months.
- “Pochin” is a product designed to destroy pests in the soil. It comes in the form of granules, which are mixed with the substrate and have a long-lasting effect. The larvae die within 24 hours after contact with the drug.
- “Vallar” is a chemical preparation for combating beetle larvae; it is not dangerous to humans and retains its effect for a long time. Simultaneously with the larvae of the May beetle, the insecticide kills mole crickets, wireworms and other soil pests. On contact, the product paralyzes the insect and causes its death. To treat plant roots, prepare a solution - 8 g of the drug per 1 liter of water.
Attention. Treatment with insecticides is carried out no later than a month before the crop ripens.
Folk recipes for removing Khrushchev
Gardeners know many ways to deal with Khrushchev; there are several effective recipes for destroying the pest:
- Onion peel tincture is prepared from 100 g of product per 10 liters of warm water. The composition is covered with a lid and left for 3-5 days. The finished product is diluted with clean water in a 1:1 ratio. The solution is poured under the root of the affected plants.
- A bottle of iodine can be found in every first aid kit, and in the garden it will become a remedy for larvae. 15 drops of the drug per bucket of water is enough to obtain a composition that causes the death of beetles.
To increase the effectiveness of the fight against May beetle, it is worth using a whole range of measures. The parallel destruction of adult beetles and larvae will save plants from pests.
The May beetle (Khrushchev) is a common pest of green spaces. In late spring they can often be seen on trees. During the flight, the insect buzzes loudly, and by this sound they can be easily identified. Adults feed on tree leaves in gardens and parks. The larvae of the cockchafer eat the roots of plants, which leads to their death.
A three-year-old larva can completely destroy the root system of a young tree in an hour. Considering that one female beetle lays up to 70 eggs, the appearance of these insects on the site threatens the almost complete destruction of green spaces.
Description of the insect
We all know what a cockchafer looks like since childhood. Some saw them live, and others saw them in pictures for the fairy tale “Thumbelina”.
The body of the beetle is barrel-shaped, black or brown-brown, elongated at the rear. The length reaches 3.5 - 4 cm. It is distinguished from other insects by antennae with long bristles.
The larva of the cockchafer, also known as the furrow beetle, has a thick white body, bent in the middle, three pairs of legs and a large brown head.
The beetle's pupa is more similar to the adult, but with shorter wings.
May beetle reproduction and growth stages
The development cycle of the cockchafer lasts five years. At the end of May, adult individuals crawl out of the ground to the surface, females mate with males and lay about 70 eggs in the soil to a depth of 15-20 cm. After this, the females die. After a month and a half, small white larvae appear from the eggs. They spend four years in the ground, continuously feeding on plant roots. In the summer of the fourth year, the larva turns into a pupa, and a year later adults emerge from the ground.
What harm does the cockchafer and its larva cause?
An adult cockchafer does not have time to cause much harm, as it only lives for about two months. The larvae cause significantly more damage to plants.
If plants begin to wither one after another for no apparent reason, most likely there are larvae living under its roots. They can be found by digging a hole in the ground about the depth of a spade bayonet.
Before you start fighting the larva of the cockchafer (Melolontha sp.), you should make sure that it is she and not other insects. The most commonly confused larvae are:
- Rhinoceros beetle (Oryctes nasicornis L.). Lives in compost heaps.
- Golden Bronzewort (Cetonia aurata). Also prefers compost heaps.
- Stag beetle (Lucanus cervus L.). Lives in dead wood.
Below is a comparative photo of the larvae of the cockchafer and the bronze beetle: 
If you look closely, you can see the difference between them. Differences also exist in the places where larvae accumulate. Thus, immature individuals of the cockchafer feed on the roots of plants, and accordingly live there. Bronze larvae have weaker jaws, live in compost heaps and feed on dead organic matter.
Below is a comparative photo of rhinoceros beetle and deer larvae: 
May beetle larvae are not found in compost heaps, as they feed only on living roots.
Folk methods of combating the cockchafer and larvae
In order to successfully fight the cockchafer, you need to know how it behaves:
- In the early morning, beetles are usually inactive and can be easily shaken off the trees onto a specially laid out litter. The collected pests are then destroyed.
- In the dark, beetles flock to the light, so they can be collected in light traps. It must be prepared in advance - any shallow container is coated with a sticky substance and a light bulb is placed in the middle. In the evening the trap is placed outside. Not only cockchafers stick to such traps, but also cutworm butterflies, whose caterpillars destroy cabbage, beets and green tomatoes.
- Starlings will also not refuse a fleshy delicacy, so a birdhouse on the site is necessary.
- The ground under the trees is sown with white clover or lupine. These plants enrich the soil with nitrogen, which repels larvae.
- The ground under the plantings is sprayed with an infusion of onion peels or a pink solution of potassium permanganate.
Ordinary hedgehogs are big fans of larvae. If a thorny family settles nearby, the pest population will begin to decline rapidly.
Larvae are also collected manually while digging the soil.
Chemical control agents
All of the above control measures are effective only with a small number of pests. If your plantings are rapidly dying, it’s time to turn to chemicals to get rid of the cockchafer. How to use them, and what drugs they include:
To effectively combat the cockchafer, it is necessary to use a set of plant protection measures. It is even better to combine protective measures with preventive ones. Thus, there is a high probability that larvae will be brought onto the site along with them, because in the first year of life they feed on unrotted organic matter. Before adding manure to the beds, it is necessary to sift it to prevent pests from entering. If the beetleworm is found in neighboring areas, it is better to replace the manure with compost or liquid nettle fertilizer, which is guaranteed to be free of larvae. Compliance with all these measures will help protect your crops and preserve the harvest.
Fighting cockchafer larvae - video
In Russia you can very often find cockchafers. They begin their activity when they appear in the spring, namely in the second half of April. If we take the genus of these beetles as a whole, then we can count 24 species, about a third of which live on Russian territory.
If you carefully observe the soil surface in the spring, you can see with the naked eye how these beetles crawl out after wintering. Often in the evening in spring you can hear the buzzing of insects near plants during flowering; this is none other than the cockchafer. They spend their days sitting on the leaves of plants, tightly clinging to them with their legs. It would not be amiss to note that all varieties of these insects, without exception, cause harm to crops.
Description of the beetle
The cockchafer is quite large for an insect. Its length can range from 1 cm to 3.5 cm. The body of the beetle is either oval or almost round in shape, and has scales on it. Longer hair can be observed on the belly and head. Female cockchafers are even larger than males.
May beetle
The beetle is black or brown in color. In the southern regions, you can often find the black cockchafer in dark forests where there is no possibility of light penetration. Insects with different colors are found in northern regions where vegetation is not too abundant.
Harm to plants
These beetles love to gnaw and eat leaves of trees and garden crops. They like flowers, as well as ovaries at a young stage of development. Sometimes trees can be completely bare after their intervention.
The larvae of the May beetle, or beetle, cause the greatest damage to garden crops and garden plants. Their length is about 5 cm on average, they can be seen in a state called sickle-shaped, they are quite plump, white in color, but not pure. They undermine the roots of garden plants with their powerful mouthparts, and are even capable of chewing them.
At a young age, the larvae do not cause any harm to the garden, because at this time they feed exclusively on grass and humus. But when they reach 2 years of age, they eat the roots of plants, which subsequently tend to wither and often die. The larvae like tubers, as well as planted strawberries and seedlings. The peak of their gluttony and, accordingly, harm occurs at 4 years of age.
May beetle larva
The pest can find food quite easily. Well-developed vision and sense of smell help him in this. With its strong legs, the cockchafer manages to dig the soil without difficulty.
According to all physical laws, it is believed that the Khrushchev cannot even rise into the air, but, despite everything, it even flies at a speed that is quite good for an insect. Even its solid weight does not interfere with this.
Distribution by plants
The insect spreads across different crops by migration. If the dacha plot is located next to some plantings or forest, then, most likely, the owner can expect the appearance of these pests and prepare in advance for their arrival.
The migration of cockchafer larvae occurs in a vertical position, so it is not always easy to find them in the ground. They won't appear until next year.
Plants damaged by Khrushchev have leaves with holes, eaten away on the sides. Also, flowers and ovaries look gnawed. The crop is severely stunted and may completely wither. Herbaceous plants emerge from the ground very easily with little effort. It is necessary to detect the beetle itself or its larva on the crop in order to understand exactly who the pest is.
May beetle
The fight against the cockchafer and its larvae is necessary. It definitely needs to be removed, otherwise the consequences can be very dire. The damage to plants from insects is significant. Getting rid of the pest is considered not too simple, due to the location of the beetle deep in the ground, so this problem requires an integrated approach.
Fighting a beetle
How to get rid of cockchafer larvae on strawberries or wild strawberries, for example, Victoria? First of all, an important procedure in agricultural technology is the usual collection of pest larvae in the autumn and spring when digging the soil.
When the temperature is not too low, the larvae are not very deep in the ground. In the fall, they have not yet begun to move into the thickness of the earth for wintering, and in the spring they begin their movement towards the root systems of plants, which are not too deep. At these moments they can be easily found, collected and destroyed.
Important! A very good measure to protect plants, which can be used to destroy the beetle, is to attract natural enemies of the pest, which eat the cockchafers. These are entomophages who, in nature and its natural conditions, are engaged in regulating the number of insects.
To attract them, planting of certain plants is used, such as dill, fennel, caraway and others. They also like planting sunflowers.
When for some reason it is not possible to constantly care for the area, you can sod it. This is done so that female beetles cannot get deep into the soil and, accordingly, egg laying does not occur.
In order to prevent the pest, insecticides are used to plant plants. Insect larvae do not like the large amount of nitrogen contained in the soil. They simply leave such places. You can plant peas, beans and beans next to strawberries. In autumn, their green parts are dug up with soil to obtain fertilizer.
Soap trap for cockchafer
The smell of mustard and lupine is poorly tolerated by the cockchafer. There are no weeds around lupine, and this is unacceptable for a pest. The beetles prefer to choose another place away from these plants. Mustard is also a good type of fertilizer when digging, which destroys beetle larvae in the ground.
Larvae really don't like chlorine compounds. A little bleach is scattered when digging up an area to kill May beetle larvae.
Also, when the temperature has reached a level sufficient for the beetles to fly out comfortably, in the morning they can be shaken, collected and destroyed. Plus, they use some kind of traps, leaving piles of dung in which the females will place their eggs.
Chemical methods
When the owner begins to think about how to deal with the larvae of the cockchafer on strawberries, the use of chemicals in his garden would not be a very good solution, but when other, more gentle methods did not have the desired effect on the pest, they resort to using them to save the strawberries from the larvae .
Remedy against Khrushchev
Of the chemical agents, the most effective ones are distinguished, such as Zemlin or Pochin. These are insecticide preparations used in summer. They are placed in the soil at a shallow depth in June. At this time, the pest is close to the surface. These drugs are good for killing young larvae that eat humus.
Contact and intestinal preparations Aktara and Vallar are also distinguished from chemical agents. They can treat the root system of plants. They are also used for application to the ground in dry form and in the form of solutions.
The Anti-Khrushch product has a long-lasting effect on insects. It is a concentrate that is proposed to be diluted into a suspension. You need to water the roots of the plants with this solution.
Plus, gardeners use ammonia water against pests. Ammonium nitrate is dissolved in a bucket of water and the area for future planting of strawberries is watered several months before the intended planting of the berry bushes.
When you decide to use chemicals to control cockchafer larvae on strawberries, you must remember to strictly follow the instructions attached to such preparations. This is important both when preparing the solution and during the application process. Under no circumstances should the plants themselves be treated with soil preparations. The vast majority of gardeners prefer to protect their plants using more environmentally friendly methods.
Biological products
Of these drugs, the most popular are those that rid strawberries of the pest at one of the first developing stages. These remedies are based on a small worm called a nematode. It will stay in the soil and eat harmful larvae. An example of such a drug is the drug Nemabact.
Biological drug against Khrushchev
In just two days, the worm penetrates directly into the cockchafer larva itself. The most important thing is that absolutely no harm is caused to anyone, neither plants, nor beneficial microorganisms, nor, especially, humans.
Traditional methods
In the fight against beetleworm on strawberries, traditional methods are often used. Among the large number of such methods, one of the most effective is the capture and destruction of adult beetles. This helps because the female lays up to 70 eggs.
To this you can add the ability to use fly repellents with a sticky base. In those places where a large number of insects have been noticed, newspapers are placed, smeared with a similar substance to attract the beetles.
Some gardeners also use traps with light that attract the beetle. Usually this is some kind of container, the walls of which are coated with a sticky substance.
Important! Hedgehogs and starlings happily eat the larvae of the May beetle, so if it is possible to attract them to the site, it is necessary to do this, because with their help you can get rid of thousands of larvae.
How to fight chrush on strawberries using folk remedies? To repel the cockchafer, you can use infused onion peels. This product is used to water the beds.
An iodine solution is also used. Dissolve 15 drops in a bucket of water and water the strawberry bushes, being careful not to get on the leaves of the plant. After this, cockchafers may not be observed in this area for a long time, more precisely about two years. Iodine solution is also used for watering just before planting strawberries. After this watering has been done, you can plant the bushes after 3 or 4 days. This time period is needed so that the root system of young strawberry bushes does not get burned. It is important to calculate the dosage and not exceed it.
Salt solution is another folk remedy in the fight against this pest. In a 10-liter bucket of water add 200 g, preferably coarsely ground, salt and about 2 tablespoons of alcohol. This remedy also effectively helps with preventive measures.
There are a number of other folk remedies:
- Infusion of dried acacia bark;
- Infusion of sunflower flowers;
- Boiled poplar leaves;
- Infusion of walnut leaves.
Preventive measures
How to get rid of beetle on strawberries worries all summer residents. But it is better to carry out preventive measures that can completely protect the plantings from the appearance of the pest. Such measures prevent the appearance of cockchafer larvae or prevent a recurrence of a previous infestation of the area. To carry out such activities it is recommended:
Which methods to choose
If we compare all of the control methods described above, it should be noted that many experts recommend gentle methods for novice gardeners to control cockchafer larvae on strawberries. This opinion is shared by many experienced summer residents. Chemicals should be used only in extreme situations and with great caution.
The best solution, of course, is prevention, which can help prevent the pest from reaching berry plantings, as well as planting appropriate plants nearby and attracting insect-killing beneficial animals and birds.
