For each gardener, his own plot is a storehouse of useful vitamins and various minerals. However, not only the owners of their hacienda have the legal right to enjoy the benefits, there are some "personalities" who also do not mind eating someone else's good. One of these is an insect, which is popularly nicknamed as a spinning top, land cancer, cabbage. Moreover, the damage from it is not so small. How to deal with a bear (this is the real name of the pest), and will be discussed in the topic of this article.
True Nightmare
For any owner of suburban private real estate, a bear is a real disaster within each individual garden plot. The diet of this insect consists of roots and young plants. Also don't mind eating seeds.
In any case, whatever you call it, the damage from this pest does not decrease. Most insectprefers to live in moist soil, but humus and manure are preferable for him. And all gardeners just use such means in order to increase the productivity of their site.
What does a bear look like? It is worth noting that she is quite large, and her appearance is not very pleasant. And before considering what methods can be used to deal with this dangerous and destructive pest, it is worth getting to know him better in order to understand how to overcome him. Below is a photo of the larvae of the bear and a description of how to deal with this enemy.
You need to know the enemy by sight
The insect was nicknamed Medvedka, in fact, because of the clumsy shape of the body: oblong, slightly disproportionate, dark green. The total length of the body usually does not exceed 2-5 cm, while it is clearly seen that it is, as it were, divided into two parts:
- cephalothorax;
- abdomen.
Moreover, the cephalothorax is covered with a strong and hard shell. Due to this, the insect in moments of danger can easily hide its head there. Two processes 1 cm each extend from the end of the abdomen. Almost like any other insect, external organs are located on the head: eyes, antennae, and tentacles can be seen around the mouth.
The front limbs are thickened at the shins and turned inward. The hind legs have spikes in the amount of 4-5 pieces. As for the wings, they are finely scaly and exceed the length of the abdomen.
How does the bear live?
To recognize the insect, a photo of the bear and a description will help. How to deal with it will be describeda little later, but for now let's look at how she lives and breeds. The insect leads mainly an underground lifestyle, but occasionally the pest gets out to fly or swim. For this reason, it is very difficult to detect during the day, and even more so at night. With the advent of winter, the bear goes deep into the ground by 2 meters or more, where it calmly waits for warm days. But some may overwinter in compost heaps.
Mating peaks between May and June. At this time, the air temperature is from +12 to +15 degrees, and adults come to the surface. At the end of the process, the females burrow into the ground to a depth of 8-10 cm, where they equip their dwelling. The female is capable of laying 50 to 500 eggs, which are round-oval in shape and 1-2 mm in diameter.
Each of the eggs is covered with a dense shell that protects it from damage. Due to this, they are not so easy to destroy. In order for the masonry to fully develop, good conditions are needed, where the humidity level is high - about 100%.
Development Features
Before you understand how to deal with the bear, you need to find out how it develops. There are several stages here:
- egg;
- larva;
- nymph;
- adult.
After 9-20 days, larvae appear, which, by their external features, resemble an adult, but wings are still missing. In addition, they are still blind until the first molt occurs. Therefore, all this time the female actively cares for the offspring. But as soon as the chitin layer is shed, young individuals begin toindependent living.
The transformation from nymph to adult takes 18-24 months. The larva becomes a fully grown individual after a year of life, that is, the next summer. The process of growing up can be divided into 4 stages:
- stage - the size does not exceed 15 mm;
- stage - a little over 20 mm;
- stage - even more 25 mm;
- stage - the body grows up to 35 mm, small rudiments of wings 2 mm appear. After the molting process, they will grow up to 8 mm.
Soon, the larva can be considered fully formed, and it, along with adults, begins to dig tunnels and feed.
How to deal with a bear whose photo is terrifying? But first you should find out if it poses a threat to humans.
Is there a danger to people?
Some insect pests pose a serious danger to humans. Fortunately, the bear is a pleasant exception. All this insect can do is pinch, as its forelimbs are developed for digging underground tunnels.
Well, except that this pest can scare with its unattractive appearance and large dimensions. And not only children, but also some adults. In this connection, it does not pose any threat to people.
Judging by the old recipes, this insect served as a medicine for the treatment of tuberculosis patients. To do this, the insect was ground into powder, which was then mixed with water, after which the patient had to drink the prepared healing decoction.
There is still damage
As we now know, there is no harm from a bear in relation to a person, at the same time there is damage. On the one hand, there is a benefit from this insect - thanks to the digging of underground tunnels, aeration of the soil is ensured. They also include other insects in their diet, which also harm the crop.
But it is necessary to know how to deal with the bear, because on the other hand, the agricultural crop suffers. Thanks to the efforts of the bear, the roots of the plants are cut, which inevitably leads to their death. As a rule, this occurs during the underground activity of the insect. In some cases, the roots of plants can block the access of sunlight to offspring, then the bears gnaw them.
In this regard, the only conclusion can be drawn: this insect is beneficial only in the forests, but if they are present in the garden, the crop suffers.
Methods of struggle
You can find out if there is a bear on the site by characteristic features: raised soil of the beds or rolled lumps. This is especially noticeable after the last rain. As we have already found out, the insect has been active since May, when they come to the surface en masse.
If you dig a little (15 centimeters) deep, you may be lucky - a clutch of eggs will be found. After some time, larvae will appear from them, the harm from which is no less than from adults.
There was already a description of the bear above, and how to deal with it - it's time to find out! There are plenty of ways to fight. Some folk remedies have already stood the test of time.
Use of kerosene
The use of kerosene to scare away the bear has been used for a long time, and the method has proven itself to be very effective. Fuel is mixed with sand in the following proportion: 1 kg of sand and 50-40 ml of kerosene per square meter of land. For a large garden, this method is hardly suitable, but it will be very useful for a greenhouse.
Sand is poured with liquid, and everything mixes well. After that, it remains to mix the sand "enriched" with fuel with the ground. Moreover, a mixture of three components (sand, kerosene and soil) is successfully used for planting not only adult plants, but also seedlings.
If there is a greenhouse, then it is desirable to bring such a mixture into the furrows around the entire perimeter of the building. To increase efficiency, you can also lay a rope soaked in kerosene around the perimeter.
Special trap
There is one very good way to deal with a bear in the garden, however, you have to sacrifice honey. You need to take a glass jar or any other plastic container and grease the inside with a treat to a quarter of the height to create enough flavor. Then the container is buried flush with the ground and closed on top with a piece of board, iron or cardboard. Just leave a gap so that the insect, attracted by the smell, can climb inside.
And having fallen into the container, it is already very difficult for her to get out of the trap back. Even impossible. In addition to honey, you can also use beer, which has a specific smell, which, no worse than the product of bees, will attractbear's attention.
Only the jar needs to be buried at an angle of 45 degrees, and then pour alcohol. The container is closed with gauze, which is not an obstacle for the insect. As many reviews testify, the method is highly effective.
Reaction to needles
How to deal with Medvedka folk remedies using other methods? Summer residents, who have rich experience behind them, are well aware that the smell of coniferous plants scares away the bear. In order to protect coniferous branches should be crushed and scattered between the rows of plants. It is better to even sprinkle them with earth - the aroma of pine needles will be preserved for a long time. Often the material used is pine, spruce, fir.
Why on earth these insects are repelled by needles is not clear, nevertheless, the fact is obvious and confirmed by many gardeners.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend
Medvedka can be considered a hardy insect, but this fact does not save her from other enemies represented by the following representatives:
- Some insectivores - mole, hedgehog, lizard, shrew.
- Birds also love small creatures - starling, heron, rook, crow.
- Other insects - ants, ground beetles, garden mites.
These natural helpers will come in handy in deciding how to deal with the larvae of the bear. And not only with them, but also with adults.
But besides this, in nature you can meet another enemy of the bear - the anathema wasp Larra. This insect is able to detect underground passages andattacks the pest itself right in his shelter. With the help of poison, she paralyzes the bear, and then lays her offspring in it and retreats. Thus, the pest itself becomes a feeder, and still alive. But such a defender is rare.
Chemotherapy
It is not always possible to get rid of the bear with the efforts of folk remedies. Then chemistry comes to the rescue, only it is desirable to use it in the case when all other methods have not been effective for more than 3 years. In addition, almost all drugs are harmful and poisonous, and therefore they should be handled with extreme caution, in no case ignoring what is written in the instructions.
Above, ways have already been considered on how to deal with a bear in the garden with folk remedies, now the turn has come to chemicals. The following drugs can be attributed to effective means in this area:
- "Thunder".
- "Phenoxin Plus".
- "Prestige 290 FS".
- "Aktar 25 WG".
- "Medvetoks".
- "Bancol".
As a rule, drugs are sold through specialized stores and look like granules. You can make baits out of them: first you need to cook porridge (from barley or millet), add one of the chemicals, beer (for flavor). The mixture should be thick enough to be rolled into small balls that need to be laid out in the places where the insects are supposed to live.
Do not forget about the beds that require increased protection. And we are usually talking about root vegetables and basic vegetables (cabbage, potatoes, cucumbers, tomatoes).
As a conclusion
If a bear has settled in the garden, you should not think that she will just take it and leave on her own. It is necessary to take timely action. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to get rid of this pest. Otherwise, the damage will be substantial.
So if you don't want to lose your harvest, you should make it clear who's boss here! And for this you need not only to know how to deal with a bear, but also to apply the knowledge gained in practice. This will allow not only to preserve the harvest, the plants will also be protected and will delight with their fruits year after year.
