The polyphagous pest, the southern gray weevil, common in the southwestern regions of Ukraine, has spread to new regions, and its population has increased.
On sunflower beetles eat leaves to the main vein and damage the stem, often they begin to damage the sprouts even before emergence.
Beetles of a new generation appear in the second half of August - mid-September and remain in the soil for wintering.
Gray weevil
Last year, the phytophage populated the area of row crops and grain crops in number, did not exceed the harmful threshold, but a gradual spread of the southern gray weevil to new regions was noted, which requires the attention of researchers to identify this pest.
A slight increase in the number of pests was observed somewhere in the Kiev region, where its number on sunflower foci reached 3 ind./ m². Slight and medium damage to sunflower plants amounted to 0.5-4%, in the Kiev region focal - up to 15% of plants.
This year, under favorable conditions, in particular, the spring period, especially on seedlings, in the Kiev, Kirovograd, Vinnitsa, Dnepropetrovsk, Nikolaev, Odessa regions, focal increased numbers and harmfulness of the southern gray weevil are predicted.
