Weevil in the grain: how to fight to prevent deterioration in crop quality

Hello! You know, I’ve not bought bread in a store for two years now. In our village, a private bakery operates at full capacity, where simply delicious products.

Everything was great, but not last season. The vigorous activity of the weevil has seriously reduced the volume of grain.

And it wasn’t so difficult to defend against him. I reproach myself for not having time to help them. But I will try to help others! Want to know if weevil appeared in the grain, then how to deal with it? What tools should be used? I will try to consider everything in detail now.

About grain pests and control measures

The real scourge of stored grain, as well as cereals and even pasta are the so-called barn pests. Sometimes in a few months of the warm period, they turn into forage the forage prepared for the winter.

Prevention

To prevent contamination of products and grains with barn pests, it is necessary first of all to observe certain rules for their storage. First, use tightly closed containers. Secondly, it must be carefully cleaned of the remnants of old stocks.

Strict control of moisture content of grain, flour and products should be carried out. In granaries, systematically carry out planned measures for drying and sorting grain.

Having discovered pests, first of all, identify the source, the place of infection. To do this, use pheromone and glue traps. Clean or destroy the infection site. Wrap heavily damaged and infected products in a plastic bag and destroy, better burn.

In many cases, stock pests do not withstand the heat treatment of grain and other products - freezing to -10 ° or strong heating to 50 ° and above.

In addition, there are beneficial insects - riders, which themselves under normal conditions destroy pests of stocks.

How to deal with them

Barn Weevil (Sitophilus granarius). One of the most dangerous pests of grain stocks. Winters in grain depots. Larvae develop in the grain of cereals (rye, wheat, barley), as well as in the grain of oats, corn, buckwheat, rice, sorghum. Adult beetles can eat flour, cereals, pasta.

Beetle usually gives 3-4 generations per year. Adult beetles live from 7 months to 2 years. The female lays up to 300 eggs. The development of the larva and pupa completely passes inside the grain, then the beetle gnaws at the outlet.

Control measures. Strong heating (up to 50-60 °) or freezing (up to -10 °) of the infected grain.Beetles can withstand temperatures of -5 ° for 26 days, 38–40 ° -1–2 days, and at 50 ° they die after 6 hours.

Storage rules must be observed: separately store grain of different moisture and different harvesting times; carefully clean the container of debris and the remnants of old grain reserves; control the moisture content of stored grain (not lower than 14 percent), destroy contaminated stocks.

With severe infection, fumigation of grain and premises with drugs is required: degash plates, strip, magtoxin (magnesium phosphide), quickphos, fostoxin (aluminum phosphide), metabrum 980.

Rice weevil (Sitophilus oryzae). Very similar to a barn weevil, but smaller (length 2.0–3.2 mm) and on brown elytra it has four yellow spots.

In addition, the bug flies well. Larvae develop in the grain of cereals (wheat, barley, rye), as well as in the grain of rice, oats, corn, peas, and edible chestnut. Adult beetles feed on flour, cookies, crackers, pasta, bran.

Larvae cannot develop in them. The beetle gives 2-3 generations per year and lives up to 240 days. The female lays 380–575 eggs. Larva and pupa develop inside the grain. With humidity less than 6.7 percent. their development stops.

Control measures are the same as for barn weevil. The beetle is more sensitive to cold than the barn weevil, it can withstand temperatures of -5 ° for 4 days, 5 ° -21 days.

Beetles and larvae feed on grain of cereals (wheat, barley, rice, millet), beaten pea grain, lentils, crackers, dried potatoes. Heavily damaged grain and products have a specific sweetish, honey smell.

Beetle gives up to 4 generations per year. The female lays 300–500 eggs and lives up to 390 days. The life cycle of the beetle lasts from 34 to 55 days. At temperatures below 23 ° the bug does not breed.

Control measures. Strong heating or freezing of contaminated grain and products. The beetle is cold-resistant: at -5 ° it dies after 28 days, at -5 ° - after five days. With severe infection, fumigation is carried out.

Adult beetles do not feed, and their larvae feed on crackers, biscuits, pastries, flour, cereals, as well as dry plants (mint), spices (paprika), chocolate, dry mixes, dry animal feed, and pharmacy medicines.

In the intestines of the larvae there are symbiotic bacteria that produce group B vitamins and help them with nutrition. Larvae pupate in cocoons coated with particles of food substrate.

They actively move and easily gnaw passages in a solid substrate and packaging, so they can damage herbariums, books, wooden products, even aluminum foil. Beetle gives from 1 to 4 generations per year. The female lives from 13 to 65 days. The life cycle lasts from 70 to 200 days.

Tobacco Beetle (Lasioderma serriceum). Brown beetle, very similar to a bread grinder, 2.0–2.5 mm long. It differs in a more rounded body shape and is strongly bent upside down. The beetle is known as a dangerous pest of tobacco and tobacco products.

In addition, he can eat flour, cereals, dry mixes, dried fruits, herbs, nuts, rice. Larvae can also damage dry bouquets, insect collections, and even medicines. Beetle larvae easily gnaw through the walls of packages when searching for pupation sites.

They pupate in a cocoon of small particles of the substrate.Beetle gives from 1 to 4 generations per year. Its life cycle is 26–120 days. The female lives from 7 to 28 days. She lays 10–100 eggs on a food substrate. At temperatures below 17 °, the development of larvae ceases.

Control measures. Strong heating or freezing of infected products. When heated to 50 °, all larvae and adult beetles die in 16–24 h; when frozen to 0 °, in 4–6 days. To prevent infection, it is advisable to store the products in tightly closed glass, metal or plastic containers.

Bean kernel (Acanthoscelides obtectus). The beetle is gray-brown in color (2–5 mm long), flies well. Dangerous bean pest in warehouses. The female can lay eggs in the field on mature bean beans. Beetles multiply rapidly in bean seeds indoors, producing 3-4 generations per year. The female lives 20–28 days and lays up to 284 eggs.

Larvae develop inside the bean grain. The life cycle lasts from 26 to 60 days. Up to 30 beetles can develop in a single bean seed. The larva before pupation prepares a translucent “window” for the exit of beetles.

Control measures. Strong heating or freezing of infected beans.

Pea weevil (Bruchus pisorum). Beetle grayish-black in color (4–5 mm long), flies well. It only harms peas in the field; it does not develop in warehouses. The beetle gives one generation a year, winters inside and outside the peas in warehouses and field.

In the field, the female lays from 130 to 730 eggs on the surface of green pea beans. Then the larva bites into the green pea and eats there, turning into a chrysalis and a beetle.

Damaged grain loses its germination capacity, as the embryo dies. The beetle is resistant to cold, can withstand temperatures of 5 ° more than 390 days, -5 ° - 260 days, -15 ° - up to 6 days.

Suriname Mucoed (Oryzaephilus surinamensis). Brown beetle (length 2.2–3.5 mm), with a very flattened body shape and characteristic denticles on the sides. Has developed wings, but does not fly.

It feeds on all types of grain, grain products (cereals, flour), confectionery and dried fruits. Larvae usually feed on damaged or broken grain. In heavily contaminated grain, "self-heating" can occur. Beetles winter well in warehouses or in the field and live up to 3 years.

Beetle gives up to 8 generations per year. The female lays up to 400 eggs. The life cycle lasts 29–32 days. At temperatures below 17 °, the larvae do not develop. The beetle is cold-resistant, at a temperature of 0 ° lives 22 days, at -5 ° - 13 days.

Flour Khrushchak (Tribolium confusum). A reddish-brown beetle with an elongated flat body (length 3.1 - 3.5 mm). Has wings, but rarely flies.

The beetle and larva feed on flour and grain of all bread crops; they also damage sunflower seeds and dried fruits. Grain and products infected by the beetle have a sharp carbolic smell, the flour darkens and turns brown. The female lives up to 3 years, lays up to 350-400 eggs. Beetle gives up to 4–5 generations per year.

Control measures. Strong heating or freezing of infected products. The beetle can withstand temperatures of 5 ° for 22 days, -10 ° - 1 day, and the larva - 5 days. With severe infection, fumigation is carried out.

Southern barn moth (Plodia interpunctella]. Small butterfly (length 7–9 mm, wingspan 13–20 mm). Front wings are gray-yellow, at the top of brown color. Frequent inhabitant of apartments. Caterpillars feed on dried fruits, nuts, cocoa, dry food for animals, as well as sunflower seeds, peas, sometimes caterpillars feed on grain, flour, cereals.

In caterpillar seeds, only the embryo is usually eaten away. The female lives 24-30 days. The butterfly lays 60-300 eggs. The caterpillar is white-pink or greenish in color. The life cycle is from 27 to 305 days. At temperatures below 8 ° caterpillars do not develop.

Control measures. Strong heating or freezing of infected products.Storage at low temperatures. With severe infection, chemical wet pest control of premises is carried out with arrivo preparations of 25%, karate 5%, fastak 10%. and fumigation of warehouses.

Pest control of grain during storage

Recently, grain storage volumes of various crops have been increasing both in the procurement system (elevators, grain receiving enterprises) and in the growing system (farms, joint-stock companies). Despite the differences, these systems share a common goal: preserving grain without quantitative losses and reducing quality.

One of the reasons that leads to significant losses and a decrease in the quality of grain during storage is pests of grain reserves (insects, ticks, mouse rodents).

In Russia and Ukraine, more than 100 species of pests were found, including: ticks - 34, insects - 60 (Coleoptera - 51, Lepidoptera - 9), mouse-like rodents - 6.

Under optimal conditions, barn pests have high fecundity and rapid development, reaching significant numbers. It is estimated that one barn and rice weevil beetle is capable of destroying 80 grains in its life.

Vital activity of barn pests significantly depends on temperature, humidity of grain and air. For example, a temperature of 20 ... 28 ° C and a relative humidity of 75-90% are favorable for the collar weevil.

At a temperature of 5 ... 10 ° C, the beetles stop feeding, for 3 ° C they fall into a stupor, for 0 ° C and lower they die.

Rice weevil is more warm and moisture-loving: a temperature of 26 ... 31 ° C is favorable for it, and at 13 ° C and a grain moisture of 10%, development stops. To combat barn pests, a system of preventive (preventive) and destructive measures is used.

Measures can start from the field: the use of chemical treatment of crops, which destroys and limits the number of grain pests. They continue at the stage of preparing granaries for storing grain mass. Granaries with a small filling, it is desirable to completely empty and clean.

When cleaning granaries, especially of a warehouse type, special attention should be paid to inaccessible places where pests initially develop: upper and lower galleries, pit elevators, block pits, ventilation ducts. The adjacent territory and equipment for processing and moving grain are also subject to cleaning.

Different grains are not equally damaged by barn pests. Even within the same culture, small, broken, and injured grain is more damaged.

Therefore, before filling in the storage, the grain must be cleaned, removing weed and grain impurities and inferior fractions as foci of potential damage. In the case of colonization of grain with small pests, they are removed on sieves with oblong cells: 1.5-1.8 mm for wheat, 1.4-1.7 for rye, 2.0-2.2 mm for barley.

Large insects are removed on sieves with holes that are selected for each specific case. Some pests, such as weevils, can be removed using suction separators or channels.

In general, any movement of the mass of grain negatively affects the condition of granary pests, restricts their development and abundance. However, work on cleaning and moving the grain mass in order to control pests should be performed in the cold season to prevent their migration.

During falling asleep in storage and storage, special attention should be paid to the moisture content of the grain. Humidity in no case should exceed the norms established separately for seeds and food-feed grain.

One of the effective measures to combat barn pests is the cooling of grain. It can be used both prophylactically and to suppress the vital activity of most pests.

To do this, it is enough to bring the temperature of the grain mass to 8 ... 10 ° C. At a temperature of 5 ... 6 ° C, the shelf life of storage increases threefold. Cooling is performed in cold, dry weather by ventilation or active ventilation.

During the cooling process, the equilibrium moisture content of the grain must be controlled: if it is lower than its actual moisture content, cooling can be performed, otherwise the grain will be moistened due to sorption.

Therefore, this measure is primarily recommended for crops that are especially unstable during storage, quickly damaged by pests, and are affected by diseases: corn, grains and oilseeds.

As an extreme measure for controlling pests of grain stocks, their thermal disinfection at the maximum permissible temperatures is used.

To select the temperature regimes and the duration of disinfection, you should use a special table that takes into account the type of pest and its thermal stability. Seed grain is not recommended to be decontaminated as it is possible to reduce its similarity.

Grain disinfection

The radical decontamination of grain stock pests continues to be chemical grain disinsection: aerosol, gas (fumigation). Chemical treatment is carried out according to special instructions and is carried out by organizations that have official permission.

For this, organophosphorus and pyrethroid insecticides (Actellik, Arrivo, Karate, Fastak, Fufanon and others) are used, the norm of application of which is: with wet processing - 0.2 l / m2, with aerosol - 20 ml / m3 of storage area. For processing the territory, the norm is doubled.

The processing of lots of grain is carried out with the same preparations during loading into the granary. The consumption rate of the drug, for example, Actellik, is 16 mg / t for food-feed grain and seeds. Fastak is recommended only for seed treatment (with the same norm).

The advantage of aerosol treatment is the high effect of the drug even in unpressurized storages, its drawback is a rather long period of time until the permitted sale of grain.

It is reliably known that after several months, the remnants of the preparations do not exceed the maximum permitted level (MDL) and reliable protection of grain is achieved when using the preparations in recommended doses.

Gas disinfection (fumigation)

Of chemical measures, gas fumigation is the most effective.For its implementation, such fumigants are used: ethyl bromide gas; tablets based on aluminum phosphide (Alfos, Foscom, Fostoxin); tablets based on magnesium phosphide (Degesh Plates, Magtoxin).

Before fumigation, it is necessary to carefully seal the room, and fumigation should be carried out with the involvement of only special units that have permission and appropriate equipment.

Decontamination is a relatively short period - up to 10 days from the start of treatment. Ethyl bromide is fed into the composition or directly into the grain mass from cylinders in the calculation of 20-100 g / m3 (one-time processing).

However, it should be noted that the use of bromomethyl recently (since 2005) is severely limited due to the negative impact on atmospheric ozone. It is also necessary for the time of fumigation with this gas and degassing to free the room from people.

Phosphine in the form of round tablets or powder is used as a substitute for bromomethyl. Tablets are introduced into the grain stream using special dispensers. Norm - 2-6 tablets in 1 m3 or per 1 ton of grain.

But the neutral substance remains in the grain - aluminum or magnesium hydroxide - and the phosphide residue is partially decomposed. The duration of fumigation depends on temperature: at 5 ... 10 ° C - ten days; for 21 ... 25 ° C - five days.

Degassing is at least ten days. The sale of grain is allowed in the case of a phosphide residue not higher than the permissible level (MDU). Neutral substances in the form of a gray powder are removed from the grain by separation or aspiration.

Phosphine fumigation regimen (dosage and exposure time), depending on the type of pests and temperature, must be filled ‘fill. Non-compliance with the regime leads to the resistance (immunity) of pests to the drug.

To control phosphine, indicator tubes of various manufacturers and gas analyzers are used. In Russia and Ukraine, indicator tubes are mainly used, since the cost of gas analyzers is quite high.

However, indicator tubes have a noticeably large error and lead to poor-quality disinfection of products, therefore, preference should be given to a modern gas analyzer.

The feasibility of fumigation should be determined based on the degree of pest damage and the economic efficiency of the work planned. On the basis of the indicator of the total density of infection with insects and ticks, grain lots are classified according to the five steps introduced into regulatory documents.

Check interval for contaminated grain The effectiveness and timeliness of all methods of controlling pests in grain stocks largely depends on monitoring the level of infection. The inspection interval is set based on the temperature and humidity of the grain, its purpose.

For storage of seeds in bags, a pest check is performed once every 30 days in the winter and every 15 days in the summer. An infection test is carried out according to regulatory methods and standards.

The use of microbiological preparations and pheromone traps against beetle and lepidopteran pests can also be recommended as an alternative to the chemical method of controlling barn pests.

However, this method justifies itself only with a low number and small storage volumes. In addition to harmful insects and ticks, significant damage during the storage of grain is caused by rodents that breed and harm in the warehouse, regardless of weather conditions.

To combat them, the use of poisonous baits based on zinc phosphide (RODENFOS), brodifacum, flocumafen (Storm) and others is effective. Charms are laid out at a distance of 2-15 m from each other in places where rodents accumulate.

Thus, the integrated application of all protection methods, taking into account the species composition of pests, the characteristics of their biology, the number and degree of damage, the systematic prediction of development and the control of harmfulness will provide reliable protection of grain during its storage.

Weevil beetle how to fight?

The weevil, or elephant, belongs to one of the largest families, numbering more than 70,000 species, and most of them inhabit the tropics. About 5,000 weevils live in the middle lane.

The weevil is a pest of plants, and each species has its own preferences - one species damages forest plants, another garden, the third garden, the fourth variety of the beetle damages the palm growth point, as a result of which the plant dies.

Pest Description

Weevils are 1 to 30 mm long, while tropical species grow up to 5 cm in length. The body shape of this kind of beetles can be flat and oblong, cylindrical, rod-shaped, rhombic, spherical, convex hemispherical or pear-shaped.

A characteristic feature of the insect is the elongated front of the head - the rostrum, due to which the genus of insects got its name.

Weevils are divided into two subspecies - short-tailed and long-tailed, differing from each other by the length of the rostrum. Larvae of long-trunked species usually develop in plant tissues, eating them, and short-larvae of larvae live in soil, feeding on plant roots.

Weevils living in the middle lane prefer to live on berry crops, and they are attracted not by fruits, but by flower buds, in which the female lays eggs.

Barn Weevil - a small dark brown bug about 4 mm long with underdeveloped wings. It is a dangerous pest of crops.

Moreover, archaeologists have established that he has been engaged in his destructive activities since ancient times: in the 20th century, scientists discovered traces of weevil in excavations of ancient Egyptian burials, and in ancient Rome the insect was known as a pest called Curculio.

An adult insect damages grain and its products, and larvae from eggs, which a female can lay up to 300 in one laying, develop in grains of millet, wheat, rice (rice weevil), oats, barley, buckwheat, and rye.

Weevil. The weevil in the apartment is the same barn weevil in the grain that gets into the apartment with the groats purchased. The female lays each egg in a cave gnawed in a grain and closes the hole with its secretions.

There, after 6-12 days an egg emerges from the egg, which feeds on the inside of the grain, and then gnaws on its shell and leaves. How to get rid of weevil in the grain? It is difficult to deal with the pest precisely because the larva, while it is in the grain, cannot be detected, and yet there are ways to deal with the weevil.

How to get rid of a parasite

It is necessary to deal with this dangerous and multi-consuming pest by all available means - preventive, physical-mechanical, chemical, biological and folk.

As a prophylaxis, before accepting and placing the grain, the storages should be disinfected from the barn weevil - wet or aerosol, and then the grain should be treated - dried, cleaned of weed impurities, cooled to the maximum and treated with contact insecticides as necessary.

In summer cottages, where other types of pest are common, for cultivation, loosening of tree trunks, removing fallen leaves, dry and diseased branches are used, repelling pests of crops are planted in aisles, prophylactic treatment of plants with Fitoverm biological preparation, birds are attracted to the site, hanging birdhouses and bird houses.

And when weevils appear, before pairing and laying eggs, they are picked by hand or shaken off on a dense fabric spread under trees or bushes, after which the pests are destroyed.

If the invasion of weevils is massive, you will have to resort to folk remedies or to treat plants with potent chemicals.

Weevil remedies (preparations)

Chemical means to combat weevil is dangerous to use at home. But in the garden or in the garden their use is justified. The best preparations for weevil:

In the summer, bugs on the crowns of trees are treated with a solution of Bazudin or Fozalon, prepared in accordance with the instructions, and against the larvae of leaf species of the pest, soil can be treated with Bazudin or Diazinon.

Fighting folk remedies

Since the use of chemicals can harm human health, it is best to destroy the weevil with non-toxic folk remedies. For example, during the formation of buds, you can treat plants with such drugs:

How to deal with weevil in the apartment

How to get rid of a barn weevil after it is found in an apartment? There are simple and effective ways to deal with the pest, based on the characteristics of its life and reproduction:

1. check all stored cereals, tea, cocoa, coffee, pasta and flour, in which weevils can settle and, if you find traces of their presence, dispose of these products, because the weevils and their larvae are carcinogenic;
2. since weevils and their larvae die already at -5 ºC, it is possible to place for the next 2–3 days products that have not yet been infected, in which pests can settle, in the freezer. For prevention, this can be done with all the cereals, flour and pasta that you buy; increase to 60 ºC, then in six hours, so it makes sense to heat the grits in the oven;
3. It is better to store already disinfected products in glass or plastic, hermetically sealed containers, which will be difficult for the bug to gnaw. In jars with cereals and pasta, put whole cloves of garlic peeled off the husk, 2-3 nutmegs can be put in flour, and a little hot pepper is added to peas and beans;
4. shelves and surfaces on which containers with cereals, flour or pasta stand, from time to time they are treated first with soapy water and then with table vinegar, and after processing they are laid out with cloves, bay leaves or lavender flowers;
5. To make it easier to monitor the status of products, do not make too large stocks without the need.

At the cottage

Strawberry Weevil. Strawberry weevil is a gray-black long-tailed bug up to 3 mm in size. In spring, individuals mate in flower buds, in which the larvae then develop. How to deal with weevils on strawberries?

In the spring, when the air temperature is uncomfortable for the pest, treat the area with strawberries with such means:

• iodine solution - dilute for this in a bucket of water a teaspoon of iodine;
• Dissolve 3 tablets of the weevil Intra-Vir in 10 l of water.

The first treatment is carried out 5-6 days before flowering, the next time spraying is carried out in mid-summer.

Cherry Weevil. Weevil cherry, he is a cherry pipe-driver, he is a cherry elephant, affects not only cherry trees, but also cherry, plum, apricot, cherry plum and even hawthorn.

This is a golden green bug with a length of 5.5 to 10 mm with a purple metallic tint. Larvae are white, dotted with sparse red hairs, with a brown head and brown mouth organs.

Weevils cause damage to the generative organs of fruit stone fruit crops even before the sap flow begins - the buds of the trees dry up and crumble. The invasion of the cherry pipelining can lead not only to loss of fruit yield, but the trees themselves can also disappear due to the death of the leaves.

The fight against cherry weevil should be carried out by all possible means - prophylactic, agrotechnical, folk, biological, and if necessary, chemical:

Plum weevil. This bronze-colored bug with a metallic sheen up to 45 mm long, all covered with short thick hairs, is also called a copper pipe-screw for its appearance. Not only plum suffers from it, but also thorns, apricots, cherries, cherries, and sometimes apple trees, hawthorn, mountain ash and even currants.

Copper pipelines are fought in the same ways as cherry weevils, and pyrethroids and organophosphorus compounds, for example, Actellik, Fufanon or Bazudin, most effectively act on it with chemical preparations.

Raspberry weevil. The raspberry is damaged by the same type of weevil as garden strawberries, and the female weevil causes the plant the main harm, which can damage up to 30 buds in one season, laying eggs in them, from which larvae appear within 6-7 days, devouring flowers from the inside for three weeks.

You can prevent the weevil from appearing on raspberries by carrying out the preventive protective measures that we have already described to you, but if preventive measures have failed, proceed with the treatment of raspberries with folk remedies. How to poison weevil if the number of its individuals on raspberries threatens to destroy the crop?

During the period of buds promotion, the treatment of bushes with Taran is justified. Before flowering and after harvesting, it is better to spray raspberries with insecticides Fufanon Expert, Karbofos, Iskra-M or Novaktion.

Throughout the growing season, it copes well with the weevil on raspberries Alatar. Before using toxic drugs, carefully read the instructions and do not neglect safety measures.

Nut weevil. Walnut weevil, or nut moth - a brown bug 7-10 mm long. His females at the end of April lay their eggs in unripe hazelnuts, and the larvae, developing, feed on their pulp, as a result of which half of the crop can be lost.

Favorable conditions for the appearance of weevil on a nut are high humidity at an average daily temperature of about 19 ºC.

Pine weevils. The weevil is a large pine, or spruce spruce - a dark brown beetle 7-14 mm long. Three-six-year-old pines and only adult individuals damage them, eating them on the bark until sapwood. The wounds from these bites merge, covered with tarry juice, from which the entire trunk becomes tarred, and the tree dies.

Pine weevil is also dangerous because it also damages deciduous trees - oak, alder, birch and others, if they are located near a pine or spruce.

Coniferous trees are damaged by two more types of weevils - pine and blue pine. Pine weevil, he is a pine elephant - a dangerous pest of coniferous copses, damaging the bark of trees, from which plants can die.

The larvae of the blue pine weevil eat into the wood, make moves there and pupate. Coniferous trees suffer from both adult blue weevil and its larvae.

The natural enemies of all types of pine weevils are rooks, crows, starlings, woodpeckers, magpies and jays, which can be attracted to the garden. Groundworms and ground beetles also eat weevils.

How to remove weevils from conifers with insecticides? Treat plants with Karbofos, Metaphos, Actellic or another drug during the period of mass settlement of pests.

Weevil - a dangerous barn pest of grain

Beetle Weevil is the most dangerous barn pest of grain of various crops. Slight contamination with these insects can lead to the loss of the entire crop.

For a long time there is a war for grain between farmers and pests, and each time someone becomes a winner and someone a loser.And if farmers become losers, this means that they lose thousands, if not millions, of profits.

What will happen if the parasite is allowed to the grain?

Such grain cannot be used and accordingly sold, there are 2 reasons why:

• such grain is forbidden to use for food purposes
• such a grain has low nutritional properties

The saddest thing for grain is that a female weevil under ideal conditions can lay 200-250 eggs in order, so ignoring the early stages of prevention means losing your entire crop.

To save your stocks, get distracted for 30 seconds, take a pen, a leaf and write down the step-by-step instructions for combating weevils, which will be at the end of the article.

In what conditions do they live comfortably?

The most ideal living conditions are room temperature 26-30 ° C, air humidity 80-95% and the humidity of the grain 16-17%

Under such conditions, the weevil can give 3 offspring per year, and they live in the order of 1-1.5 years. The lower the temperature in the room, the slower the fetus will develop, namely at a temperature of 16 ° C - 75-80 days, and at 28-30 ° C 30-35 days will be enough.

A critical mark for beetles is the temperature of + 10 ° C, at which they slowly stop eating. At 0 ° C they die.

The lower the humidity in the room, the slower the development process. Humidity of 10-15% is critical for them. But it is not always possible to achieve such a low humidity in the room, if the humidity is 50-60%, this does not mean that they will slowly slow down in development.

Barn pest control is a sequential algorithm of actions, which will be discussed in the next paragraph.

How to deal with pests?

Prepare the room. First of all, you need to do pest control by aerosol treatment.

Clear of impurities. Use a heap cleaner or if, in simple words, a separator, after passing through this apparatus, the grain is cleaned of waste, since pests can settle even during the maturation of grains in the field

Warm the grain up to 50 degrees, at this temperature, the pests die within 6 hours, as we already said that the female beetle lays about 200-250 eggs. If you skip this method, not many pests can remain, but given their birth rate, their number will increase "at the speed of light."

Use traps. If you have already decided on the source of their origin, put glue traps

Do not mix grain with last year's stocks. If you still have a crop from last year, find a place in the next room for this year's wheat, in which case you can keep last year safe and sound if you are not 100% sure of the new crop.

The use of special chemicals - fumigants.

Barn Weevil - grain: wheat, rye, barley, rice, corn, oats

Latin name: Sitophilus granarius L.

Description. Systematic position: detachment of beetles, or coleoptera, family of weevils (Curculionidae).

Distributed everywhere. It damages stored grain of wheat, rye, barley, rice, corn, oats, especially severely in the southern regions.

Overwintering larvae, pupae, beetles inside the grain. The latter can winter in the intergranular space, in the most various places of granaries. In spring, with an increase in air temperature to 17 ° C, females begin to lay eggs, making small indentations in the caryopsis and closing the holes with hardening secretions in the form of a cork.

Fertility of the female is about 300 eggs.Hatching larvae feed inside the grain, leaving only one shell. Here they pupate.

The formed young beetles gnaw holes in the shell of the grains and go outside, then repeating the cycle of development. Weevil develops at an air temperature of 12–34 ° C and a grain humidity of at least 11%.

He most fully realizes his potential at an air temperature of 22–26 ° С and a grain humidity of 15–16%. Under such conditions, a generation develops in 36 days. When the temperature drops to 5 ° C, the beetles fall into a cold stupor, and at -5 ° C all phases of its development die within 1 month.

The largest amount of the pest is concentrated in a grain embankment up to 75 cm thick. Depending on the climatic zone, the weevil gives one to three generations per season; it develops in heated rooms throughout the year.

Control measures

Measures to protect grain from pests are developed taking into account the climatic characteristics of the regions of our country. Depending on the average daily temperature during the harvest season, three zones are distinguished in Russia, each of which uses different technological methods for protecting grain reserves.

Second zone. The average daily air temperature is from 16 to 20 ° C. This group includes the Central Black Earth (except for the Tambov region) and the Ural (Orenburg and Kurgan regions) regions.

The third zone. The average daily air temperature is from 20 to 23 ° C. This zone is represented by the North Caucasus and Volga (Astrakhan and Volgograd regions, Republic of Kalmykia) regions.

In its most general terms, the system of protective measures consists of the following preventive and destructive measures.

Before the grain is harvested, the granaries are cleaned of debris, they are repaired and they include all measures that prevent the penetration of pests and create all opportunities for the active ventilation of grain and fumigation.

Wet disinfestation is carried out using a backpack or motor sprayer, applying a working solution to all internal surfaces of the granary at the rate of 50 ml per 1 m2, by the following chemical means, CE (ml / m2): decis - 0.2; karate - 0.4; karbofos or fufanon — 0.8; the actress - 0.4.

In addition to this method, aerosol treatments are widely used in the practice of disinsection of warehouses, which allow quick and effective destruction of pests living there.

During the period when grain comes from the field, it is cleaned on currents and dried to a critical humidity of 14-15%, and if stored for a long time, it is 1-1.5% lower than critical.

In the first zone, the grain poured into the warehouse is cooled to the temperature of the lower threshold of pest development, which is sufficient for its normal storage.

In the second zone, this technique is also the main one, and the additional one is the treatment of grain with contact insectoacaricides.

In the third zone, grain processing with insectoacaricides is the main technological method, and cooling is additional, which can be done in the autumn-winter period.

Grain processing with working solutions of chemical agents is carried out in a stream (when moving it along a conveyor belt).Food, seed and feed grain are processed in this way at the rate of 500 ml of working solution per 1 ton with the following preparations: karbofos or fufanon, CE (12-30 ml / t), actellic, CE (16 ml / t), etc.

Subsequent measures of a destructive nature are carried out on the basis of periodic inspections of lots of grain during storage. If the number of pests exceeds the economic threshold of harmfulness and favorable conditions for reproduction are created, fumigation of grain with methyl bromide or phosphine is recommended.

These are highly active hazardous chemicals, the work with which is carried out only by licensed specialists, that is, who have undergone special training.

In the breeding places of the mill, flour and other types of moths, pheromone-glue traps are used at the rate of 1 trap per 150-200 rooms. Traps are replaced as the butterflies populate them with fireflies, but not less than 45 days later.

When carrying out protective measures, one should strictly follow the “Instruction for the Control of Pests of Grain Stocks”, parts 1 and 2, M., 1992, and the “State Catalog of Pesticides and Agrochemicals Permitted for Use in the Russian Federation”.