Prevented the mass spread of the rapeseed flower beetle in the fields of Stavropol

The threat for winter rapeseed is posed by both polyphagous pests and specialized pests that damage precisely plants of the cruciferous family.
Despite the huge number of potential pests, the greatest danger to this crop is, first of all, the rapeseed flower beetle.
During the survey of 32.5 thousand hectares of winter rapeseed crops for the identification of pests, specialists of the branch of the Federal State Budgetary Institution "Rosselkhoztsentr" in Stavropolsky discovered a colonization of rapeseed flower beetle on an area of ​​1.1 thousand hectares.
Beetle 1.5-2.9 mm long, black or black-green with a metallic sheen, club-shaped antennae. Larva up to 4 mm long, worm-like, white, with brown head and 3 pairs of legs.
Beetles overwinter under plant debris and in the upper soil layer. In spring, at a temperature of 8-10 ° C, they awaken, and at temperatures above 13-14 ° C, various early flowering plants begin to populate, where they feed on pollen and nectar. With the onset of the budding phase in wild and cultivated plants, the cabbage families gradually move to them. Here they feed on flower petals, pollen, stamens, pistils, nectar, and flower ovaries. Severely damaged flowers dry up. Here mating takes place and after 3-4 days the females lay white elongated oval eggs in unblown buds, more often one at a time, less often - 2-5 (up to 10) eggs each.
Fertility - 60-180 eggs. Embryonic development usually lasts 10-15 days. The hatching larvae eat away the contents of the buds (stamens, pistils), and they cause the main harm. Late hatching larvae sometimes eat the pods as well.
Larvae develop for 10-25 days, having completed their development, they pupate in the surface layer of the soil. Approximately in mid-July, beetles of a new generation hatch, which feed for some time without harming cultivated plants, then leave for the winter.
To date, according to the recommendations of the Stavropol Rosselkhoztsentr, the agrarians of the region have taken protective measures against rapeseed pests on an area of ​​7.45 thousand hectares. Thanks to this, the number of pests, at present, does not exceed the threshold of harmfulness, and mass damage to rapeseed crops is not allowed.

Source: Branch of the Federal State Budgetary Institution "ROSSELHOZTSENTR" in the Stavropol Territory