There are many pests of garden crops that can cause significant harm to your plantings. One of these insects is the weevil bug, it is also an elephant - a pest that is dangerous for currants, gooseberries, strawberries and many other fruit and berry bushes.

Weevil species

Currently, about 5 thousand species of beetles living in the middle latitudes are known, and, presumably, over 65 thousand species that can be found in the tropics. It is unrealistic to describe all of them, and there is no need for this. Weevil is divided into 2 large subspecies:

1. Long proboscis. A characteristic feature of the insect, as the name implies, is a relatively long trunk, approximately the length of the trunk. The organ serves to nourish - an insect breaks through a leaf plate and drinks juice. Most often, this group of bugs develops in the green mass of garden plants.
2. Short-haired. The trunk is much smaller than the first group. The pest, in addition to leaf juice, feeds on other parts of the plant (seeds, ovaries, buds). Pest larvae develop in the topsoil.

Weevils are one of the largest beetle families in the world. They feed on almost any plant and its parts (roots, stem, inner and outer leaf tissues, rotting wood, etc.), which are accessed in specific conditions.

However, for a simple layman, more than zoological species diversity, the separation of the elephant into a barn and a home is important. The reason is simple: the methods for controlling it depend on where the pest lives. Indeed, many methods of destroying a beetle, suitable for use in the fresh air, are absolutely unacceptable at home.

Did you know? At the beginning of the twentieth century, traces of weevil were found in excavations of the era of Ancient Egypt, and in ancient Rome this beetle was known as Curculio.

Barn

The bug has a dark brown color, wings with signs of underdevelopment. The body length usually does not exceed 4–5 mm. The greatest danger from the beetle comes for cereals, which are its main food. However, if an insect enters the garden, it will not remain without food - fruit and berry bushes, such as currants or gooseberries, will become an excellent source of nutrients for it.

This species is not called accidental - it is the beetle that poses the greatest danger precisely for cereals and products made from grain.

The female is able to bring up to three hundred eggs in one clutch. From these eggs, larvae appear that develop in cereals. Cereals affected by the pest become unsuitable for ingestion. Such products acquire the property of increased hygroscopicity: water gets inside them, the temperature rises, which contributes to speedy decay.

Home

This species is a domesticated version of the barn weevil. The beetle enters the house with flour or grain. The female makes a niche in the grain in which she lays an egg. The insect closes the hole with its own stool.

After 1–1.5 weeks, a larva appears, which at the initial stage of life feeds on the inside of the grain. When the time comes, the larva makes a hole in the shell and gets out of there. It is difficult, but possible to detect, and, accordingly, destroy the larva.

Pest Management Methods

There are three main methods of controlling any pests, including weevil:

• folk remedies;
• biological;
• chemical preparations (insecticides and acaricides).

In more detail about the listed methods of destruction of the weevil on the currant is described below.

Important! Shrubs should be sprayed in the evening, just before sunset, in dry, calm weather.

Folk remedies

In the event that the pest is detected at an early stage and the invasion is not widespread, you can try to resort to folk methods of controlling insects.

Among the most popular methods, the following can be distinguished:

1. Soap solution. A piece of laundry soap (72%), grate on a coarse grater, stir enough hot water (+50 ... + 60 ° С) until completely dissolved in 3-5 liters. When the soap dissolves, add water in such a volume that you get a bucket of the product. To treat bushes by spraying.
2. Spraying with mustard powder infusion. Dissolve 3 tbsp in one liter of warm water. l mustard powder, let it brew for a day. Dilute the resulting solution 1:10 (you can pour a liter of solution into a bucket of water). Before using the product, add 20-30 ml of liquid soap, mix until an abundant foam forms.
3. Ash solution. Dissolve 2–2.5 liters of ash in a bucket of water, mix well, leave for several hours. Add 20-30 ml of liquid soap, mix, spray the plantings in the traditional way.
4. Iodine solution. Dilute 10 ml of iodine solution (5%) in 10 l of water, add surfactant (detergent or soap), and treat.
5. Processing with a solution of soda. Grate 1/2 a piece of laundry soap (72%) on a coarse grater, dissolve in a bucket of warm water, add a packet (100 g) of baking soda, mix well, spray the plantings.
6. Treatment with a solution of ammonia in boiling water. To prepare the product, take 10 liters of water (80 ° C), in which they dissolve 2-3 tbsp. ammonia. The liquid is slightly mixed and immediately, so that it does not cool, spray the foliage of plants. The method is especially effective during the formation of ovaries.
7. Spraying with a solution of potassium permanganate. Dissolve 5 g of potassium permanganate in 10 l of water, treat the plants.

You can shed a bush of currant with boiling water (+75 ... + 80 ° С), without adding any preparations. The green mass should be processed in such a way that all the leaves are spilled abundantly with water.

In addition, in addition to the described recipes, there is a huge mass of folk methods of pest control, which are not possible to describe in detail in this article. For example, such methods are also considered effective: infusion of celandine and onion peel, a decoction of needles with garlic, a decoction of tansy, red capsicum, etc.

Biological methods

Another pest-friendly method for humans and the environment is the use of biological products. The use of such agents is based on the destruction of pests by relatively harmless microorganisms or fungi. For the destruction of an elephant, nematode-based bioinsecticides are quite effective.

Important! Finished biological products often have a fairly limited shelf life. They must be used within two hours after preparation.

In specialized stores you can buy nematode powder. Apply it as follows:

1. The drug is dissolved in water, allowed to infuse for an hour.
2. The sticky mass formed by that time is removed, topped up with water to the volume indicated in the instructions.
3. The resulting product is treated with sprinkling currants. Nematodes, getting inside the larvae, eat them.

Nematodes secrete bacteria of the genus Xenorhabdus, which, in fact, help get rid of the weevil. Among the most popular drugs should be highlighted Nemabact, Anthony-F.

Nematodes secrete bacteria of the genus Xenorhabdus, which, in fact, help get rid of the weevil. Among the most popular drugs should be distinguished "Nemabakt", "Anthony-F".

The disadvantages of using bioinsecticides include some laboriousness in the preparation of the product. In order to activate the nematodes, before use, the product must first be incubated for several hours in a dark room at a temperature of + 25 ° C.

Biological methods include the use of formicidae ants and Vespidae wasps to control weevil on currants, and the attraction of insectivorous birds. However, these methods, although effective, are difficult to implement and practically impossible to control. In addition, birds can enjoy berries, and ants are quite capable, destroying the weevil, bring their own cattle - aphids, which pose no less threat to garden plants than weevils.

Chemical spraying

We can say that the use of chemical preparations (insecticides) is an extreme measure in the fight against weevil. However, it should not scare you - modern drugs are safe enough for humans, although they require compliance with certain safety rules.

The most effective and popular remedies are:

• colloidal sulfur solution (1%),
• "Fufanon";
• "Decis";
• Iskra-M;
• Kinmix
• Kemifos;
• Novaktion;
• "Alatar";
• "Initiative" (destroys larvae);
• Mospilan et al.

Below are the rules for the preparation of some drugs:

• «Kinmix"- the product is prepared by dissolving 2.5 ml of the drug in 10 l of water. Ready solution sprayed planting;
• «Decis"- 2 ml per 10 l of water, treat in the same way as the previous drug;
• «Fufanon», «Iskra-M», «Kemifos», «Karbafos"- 10 ml of any product in 10 liters of water, spraying;
• «Fitoverm"- 20 ml / 10 l of water, spray the green mass.

The active substance of many of these funds are malathion (karbofos) and deltamethrin. They use drugs according to the instructions, most often they are treated in the early spring, before the active sap flow, and in the fall, after leaf fall. If necessary, perform additional processing during the growing season, but no later than 15–20 days before the start of harvest.

Prevention

In order to reduce the risk of weevil on currants as much as possible, preventive measures should be taken.

Did you know? The oldest representatives of the weevil family were discovered during excavations in Mongolia, in the layer of the Lower Cretaceous, corresponding to period 140–100 million years ago. Currently, 508 fossil insect species have been described.

They are quite simple, but at the same time effective:

• regular digging of plantings in the fall without fail and in the spring whenever possible;
• during autumn harvesting, completely remove the remains of plants, weed grass, parts of roots, stems and leaves;
• pruning of shrubs in autumn and spring, thinning of plantings;
• regular application of fertilizers (top dressing enhances immunity, and therefore, the plant's resistance to pests and diseases);
• cultivation of marigold and marigold currants near the plantings;
• Do not plant currants next to gooseberries, raspberries, strawberries - as a result of this neighborhood, pests from one crop can fall onto another.

It is well known that it is easier to prevent a problem than to deal with it later. This fully applies to the possible occurrence of pests in your garden plot. Compliance and timely implementation of preventive measures can minimize the likelihood of not only weevils appearing on your landings, but also other unwanted guests.