Why is a black and red bug on cabbage dangerous and how to get rid of it?

A bright black and red bug on cabbage and other cruciferous species is a serious threat to vegetables. Not showing attention to the appearance of an insect, a summer resident or a farmer will be left without a crop. To see the danger in time and to cope with the pest in the shortest possible time will help information about the features of its development.

Description and life cycle of the pest

It is difficult to confuse eurydema - the so-called cabbage bug (from Lat. Eurydema) - with other insects. An adult with a rigid oval flat body no more than 1 cm is distinguished by a combination of two contrasting colors. Black spots are rounded, triangular, and elongated on a red background of the scutellum and elytra. Some species have a background of different shades of yellow. But the symmetrical clear pattern on the back is the "calling card" of the cabbage bug.

The variegated corymbs that have wintered in the upper layer of the soil wake up with the establishment of a positive temperature. If leaves and tops of cruciferous crops not harvested in the fall remain on the site, then this nutrient medium is enough for bedbugs to young seedlings in the beds. Otherwise, eurydems start with weedy representatives of the cabbage family. But as soon as crop shoots appear, the pests move to planting.

In spring, mating occurs, the result is that numerous clutches appear on the underside of the leaves.

The female produces about three hundred black eggs. The size of one unit is less than a millimeter, so it is not always possible to see the masonry on the back of the sheet. The cabbage bug places eggs in pairs, each of which contains 12 eggs, each in the form of a barrel with a lid.

It takes only a week and a half for the larva to leave the clutch through the opened lid and begin to feed on cabbage juice. And after 30-40 days, it is already an adult, ready to produce offspring. Therefore, the first wave of the infestation of bedbugs is in June, the second - by mid-August. In the southern regions with early spring, dry warm summer and late autumn, the bug on cabbage manages to breed three generations. This is due to the fact that dry hot weather is the optimal conditions for the reproduction and development of the insect.

Danger and prevention

Colonies of cabbage bugs feed on the sap of cruciferous crops, piercing leaves, stems and peduncles with proboscis. The damaged area is a hole with a pale spot. The tissues die off, the flowers crumble, the ovaries die.

The hotter the weather, the more insects attack the beds, the more actively they destroy plants. Leaving cruciferous crops unattended for a while can result in the loss of the entire crop.

To prevent the invasion of the cabbage bug by creating conditions unacceptable for its life, you can in the following ways:

• at the end of the season, it is obligatory to harvest all plant residues from the territory of the garden, since it is in the waste of cruciferous crops that the best conditions for the wintering of the pest;
• deep digging of the beds will interfere with the successful wintering of insects in the upper layers of the soil;
• timely and regular removal of weeds, among which there are many representatives of the cruciferous family, will deprive the pest of nutrition at the very beginning of spring, before the crop appears in the beds.

Prevention, the meaning of which is to maintain cleanliness and order throughout the season, especially before winter, will reduce the risk of pests in the new year. Deprived of a food base and comfortable conditions, the cabbage bug will move to another territory.

Effective control measures

The first signs of the appearance of a pest are a signal for an urgent implementation of a set of measures to protect the crop from the bug. The combination of agrotechnical methods, folk remedies and insecticides is the key to a successful fight against eurydema.

Agrotechnical methods

Cabbage bug does not tolerate strong odors, therefore, plants are planted between the beds that can scare off the pest:

• sagebrush,
• pelargonium,
• tansy,
• marigolds (calendula).

If insect raids are regular, then cruciferous plantings alternate with these "flavorings", repelling eurydem.

If the red-black aggressor appeared suddenly, then the branches and flowers of plants with a strong odor are laid out in the beds.

Sowing early varieties of cabbage, timely watering and feeding will prevent the invasion of the pest. By the time the cabbage bug is active, the vegetable culture will already get stronger, the leaves will become tough - the plant will no longer attract sap-sucking insects.

Folk remedies

In the early stages of damage to cabbage beds, folk remedies for bedbugs are effective.

Several time-tested recipes:

• Mix naphthalene (1 part) with sand or ash (5 parts) - for dusting the soil under the plants.
• A mixture of fluff and creolin (a veterinary drug for insects that parasitize pets) in a ratio of 20: 1 - sprinkle the soil on the beds.
• Tobacco and ash in equal parts - fill the soil around the young cabbage.
• In equal quantities, fresh chopped wormwood and water: infuse for a day, then boil for half an hour, cool, drain. Spray the plants. Repeat 2-3 times with an interval of 7 days.
• Pour 1 kg of fresh tansy flowers with 2 liters of water, close tightly, stand for two days. After boil for 30 minutes, drain. Add an equal amount of cold water. Process the planting.
• Garlic (teeth, arrows - 0.5 kg per 10 liters of water) insist for two days, strain, add 50 g of grated laundry soap. After dissolving the detergent, mix everything, process the cabbage.

Folk remedies for the cabbage bug are effective when the first insects appear. If up to 3-4 pests are seen on the plant, you should carefully examine the leaves, find eurydema clutches. Wipe the surface with soapy water, removing the eggs. Process the planting with infusion (one of the ones suggested above) and observe for a week. If the bug reappears on the cabbage, urgently treat the culture with a chemical.

Agrochemistry against eurydema

Insecticides are an effective way to get rid of cabbage bugs. If folk remedies could not contain the growth of the eurydema population, the following drugs will stop the pest:

• "Actellik",
• "Aktara",
• "Fosbecid",
• "Belofos"
• "Angio".

When using chemicals, you must follow the instructions and safety precautions. If the number of insects becomes threatening, it is recommended to double the dosage.

When protecting the harvest of cabbage and other cruciferous crops, it is important to remember that the problem is easier to prevent or deal with in the early stages. Therefore, compliance with agricultural techniques, keeping the site clean, regular inspections of plantings will relieve you of the exhausting struggle with the cabbage bug and the need to use chemistry.