Aphid - small insects with hard wings not exceeding 7 mm. They are the most dangerous and common pests of indoor plants. The color, as a rule, is green with various shades, but aphids are found in gray and even orange. To combat aphids, use herbal or chemicals.
Pests infect plants by piercing leaves or shoots with a proboscis. There are over 4,000 species and subspecies, both wingless and wingless insects. Reproduction is fast and massive.
Wingless, promote rapid reproduction, in turn winged, are able to fly over and in the shortest possible time infect the entire plant, as well as those nearby.
Aphids can enter the room through an open window, or with other, new flowers. One fertilization of a female is capable of producing up to 20 offspring cycles, with an interval of two weeks. Each cycle contains up to 200 larvae.
Aphids can colonize almost any plant, forming large colonies. First, at the top, gently dropping down. With the help of proboscis, they suck the juices from herbaceous plants, and in the fall, females lay eggs on indoor flowers, shrubs and trees, where a new generation appears in the spring.
Aphids feed on young leaves, stems, succulent apical shoots of plants, as well as inflorescences and buds. There are species that prey on the root collar, and even the roots themselves.
We start the fight against aphids
It is not difficult to find such a pest - the photographs show how the fight against aphids takes place. Aphids should be looked for exclusively on young plants. It looks like green, and maybe a different color, oblong tubes, with antennae and legs that are attached to the plant. Naturally, the places where they settle become sticky, a kind of mucus appears on them.
Aphids are carried by ants. It may seem very strange, at first glance, how these completely different insects can work together.
The ants thus provide themselves with a pleasant-tasting plant sap. That is why, your main task is to block the path of ants to young plants in our garden.
There are many aphids that can help save plants during the early breeding stages of parasites. However, it is better to avoid chemicals, otherwise you risk poisoning not only aphids, but also yourself.
Insect description
It is still not worth hoping that a meeting with a dangerous enemy of the garden and vegetable garden will not happen. It is better to arm yourself with knowledge and find out what aphids look like in order to prevent the possibility of harm to them.
- Aphids are small insects, the size of which does not exceed 8 mm. Individuals living on indoor plants are much smaller than about 0.5 mm.
- Depending on the species, the soft transparent body of a tiny pest can be in the form of a drop, oval or ellipse.
- The color of the aphids matches the tone of the plant on which the insect lives. Often there are black, green, red, pink or completely transparent individuals.
- On the bumpy surface, there are outgrowths and hairs of various densities and lengths.
- The antennae are located on the trapezoidal head. They consist of several segments and serve as organs of hearing and touch.
- Due to the complex faceted eyes, which are black, red or brown, aphids are the owners of clear vision.
- The mouth of the aphid is a small proboscis, with the help of which the insect makes a puncture in the leaf plate and sucks out the juice from it.
Interesting!
Thanks to their well-developed visual perception, aphids can even distinguish some colors.
Insects move with the help of three pairs of long legs, which also perform jumping functions. Depending on the conditions of existence, there are aphids with and without wings. Moreover, each individual is assigned a certain type of activity in this colony. The presence of wings is not a sexual sign, so the winged aphid can be either a female or a male. A distinctive feature of wingless individuals is 3 additional simple eyes. Aphid photo is presented below.
Aphid
The abdomen is divided into 9 segmented parts. The spiracles are located on the first seven. On subsequent segments, there are nipple tubes that perform excretory and secretory functions. The last segment is underdeveloped and looks like a hairy tail.
We use natural remedies to fight the parasite
Some herbal infusions can harm plants, so limit yourself to a small area before using them in large quantities. When choosing home remedies for aphids, make sure they are safe for you and not poisonous.
Crops of fruit plants can be processed only during the period when flowering is over, and there is still a month left before harvesting. But berry crops, on the contrary, are recommended to be processed after picking berries, or before flowering plants.
Vegetable crops are sprayed only a month before harvesting, but they can be processed several times until they grow.
Traditional methods of dealing with aphids are quite effective, unless, of course, the plants are in a neglected state.
Reproduction
Reproduction of aphids
With the arrival of warm days, a wingless female emerges from the aphid egg laid in the bark of a tree in the fall, which becomes the founder of the colony. In the spring, under favorable conditions, the female aphid, reproducing parthenogenetically, gives life to similar virgin individuals.
On a note!
Parthenogenesis of aphids is a form of sexual reproduction, during which eggs in adult females develop without mating with males.
It is also surprising how long such an individual lives - for its relatively short life, and a virgin female lives for no more than a month, she manages to reproduce several thousand creatures similar to herself.
Aphid larvae are similar to adults. They grow rapidly, undergoing several molts. After two weeks, the young individual is already sexually mature. Thus, the size of the colony increases several times. When it reaches a critical size, females with wings are born. Flying to other plants, they give life to new colonies. And only with the onset of autumn, the population is replenished with full-fledged females and males. After mating, females lay eggs, which overwinter and give rise to a new cycle.
Types of herbal decoctions
Onion decoction. We take onions or their husks in the amount of 35 grams, add a liter of water and leave for five hours. Add five grams of laundry soap and filter. We add water so that the amount of infusion is at least one liter.
Chamomile decoction. We buy one hundred grams of chamomile at the pharmacy, mix it with one liter of water and now we insist for 12 hours. For spraying, we take three parts of water and one part of the solution, add more soap, with the calculation of four grams per one liter.
Sorrel broth.You need to take four hundred grams of sorrel rhizomes and fill them with hot water, then leave for three hours. The solution is ready.
Pepper broth. We take a kilogram of hot, bitter pepper, insist in ten liters of water, one day. For spraying, use one part of the solution to ten parts of water.
A decoction of celandine. Grind four hundred grams of celandine stems and flowers, fill it with one liter of water, and leave for a day and a half. After that, boil for half an hour. The solution is ready.
Photo
Take a look at what the insect looks like in the photo:
We attract useful helpers to the site
In addition to plants, you can also fight pests with the help of certain insects and some species of birds. In order to attract the necessary insects, it is necessary to plant daisies, dill, parsley on the plots.
The most vicious enemy of aphids is the well-known ladybug, as well as riders, lacewings, hoverflies.
If you can't lure insects to the site in the right amount, you can purchase larvae of lacewings and ladybirds in special gardening centers.
Controlling aphids on fruit trees will be more effective if you attract birds. To attract birds on the site, you can place various bird feeders, put containers with water. If you try hard, you can attract birds such as linnet, sparrows, tits, wrens to the site.
Characteristic
Aphids can destroy a plant in a few weeks.
On the forums of amateur gardeners, they often ask questions about what aphids are and how you can recognize a pest. In fact, finding an insect is quite simple. The size of a representative of the order of hemiptera, as a rule, does not exceed two millimeters. It has a characteristic soft ovoid shape. It is easily crushed when pressed. Aphids move rather slowly. The insect has long legs.
There are wingless individuals and pests with wings. The female wingless insects have an elongated oral apparatus. The oblong body structure is noticeably thickened in the anterior part.
The winged species have 2 pairs of wings. They are able to move quickly and infect other plants.
Aphids are one of the most prolific pests. A female without wings is capable of producing about one hundred and fifty larvae twice a month for six months. For this, one fertilization is enough.
There is an adult insect of black and green shades. In the warm season, some species of aphids grow wings. Pests can travel long distances in search of food.
The pest can inhabit and reproduce in all parts of the plant.
Aphids primarily affect stems, buds, lower leaf plates. The apices of young shoots and fattening branches also destroy pests.
Aphids are one of the most numerous pest categories. More than four thousand species of insects are known. In moderate climatic conditions, about one thousand species of aphids live. Every year new species are added to the list.
Food
What the insect eats, we can confidently answer - plant juices. What kind of plants depends on the type of pest:
- red aphid affects currants;
- black settles on eggplants, peppers, beans, melons, watermelons;
- green loves peas.
Harm
The harm caused to plants by aphids is underestimated by many, but in vain. Aphids suck plant sap from stems and leaves, buds and buds. In the affected plant, the leaves are curled, the buds and shoots are deformed, growth slows down, the fruits do not ripen. A weakened plant that is affected may not survive the winter. In addition to direct damage, aphids carry viral diseases, a black sooty fungus (black sooty dew) settles on the sugary secretions of aphids.
Aphids pierce the covers of the plant and suck out the sap. In places of mass bites, tissues are deformed and then die off.Flowers on affected peduncles do not develop, wither, barely opening. The peduncle itself quickly fades. Aphids, like other isoptera insects (mealybugs, root bugs, whiteflies, leafhoppers, scale insects, false scutes), suck out much more juice from the plant than they need to maintain vitality. Excess moisture and carbohydrates are excreted from the aphids' body in the form of sugary secretions, which are called honeydew or honeydew. This sticky, sweet liquid coats the plant, making it difficult to breathe. Pad is a good substrate for the development of various fungi. Sooty fungi, for example, can cover a leaf in a continuous layer, reducing the intensity of photosynthesis, which inhibits already weakened plants.
Aphids on indoor plants and in the garden - how to recognize a pest
Insects can be seen with the naked eye. Already at the initial stage of the lesion, it is quite easy to see several signs of pest settlement - characteristic curling of leaves, deformation of various areas and the appearance of a sweet bloom on vegetative organs.
A large number of ants sometimes appear in an open area. The order of insects is attracted by sugary secretions.
Scientists have proven that ants and aphids have a close relationship. Some species support mutually beneficial mutualism (symbiosis). Ants protect aphids. Instead, a characteristic discharge with a high concentration of sugar is obtained.
Aphids live in large groups in the lower parts of the vegetative organs. Pests can be found directly next to growth points, on young buds, shoots, pedicels.
In affected plants, various areas curl and turn yellow. Nodules are formed (convex indurations). The buds stop developing. Deformed or malformed inflorescences can be produced.
The pest can settle on most types of indoor, garden and garden crops.
Indoor representatives of the flora - fuchsia, carnations, roses, are especially susceptible to attack by aphids. Representatives of the Aroid family, bulbous and forcing plants are also damaged.
Aphids on orchids often cause galls and gall-like formations.
Potato
The bugs are about 4 mm in size. This class can be found very often all over the world. Its representatives feed on almost any plant.
However, the main food preferences of this variety are potatoes. Also, cabbage and beets are eaten, they do not disdain such "gluttony" and tomato. Due to its widespread occurrence, it can be found even on indoor flowers.
It represents the main danger due to the fact that it is a carrier of a huge number of viruses. Insects can weaken the immune system and additionally infect the vegetable with a dangerous virus, which will finish it off.
Traditional methods
Based on spraying infected plantings with self-prepared solutions: Potato tops - 2 kg per 10 liters of warm water. Infusion 3-4 hours and straining. Yarrow - 200 grams of fresh stems in 2 liters of boiling water. Insist for 1 hour, dilute with 8 liters of water. Onion peels - 0.5 buckets of peels for 10 liters of boiling water. Insist 24 hours, filter. Liquid soap - 2 tsp for 450-500 ml of water. Addition of 1 tbsp is allowed. vegetable oil. Ash - 1 kg per 8 liters of boiling water. Insist closed for 2 days, drain. Vodka - spray with undiluted alcohol (the cheapest option will do). Coca-Cola - 1: 5 ratio with water. Do not use in pure form, plant leaves will burn.
Cabbage
It has a broadly oval pale green body, short dark antennae.
Cabbage aphid photo.
- Geographic distribution. In almost all countries, in Russia it is absent in the subtropical regions.
- What plants are found? Inhabits mainly crucifers, especially radishes and cabbage.
- Development. In a warm climate, development is incomplete, in other regions - a full cycle. From 6 to 30 generations appear per season.
- What harm does it do? Multiplying en masse, it sticks to the whole plant, which leads to death.
Beetroot or legume
Egg - black, elliptical... The founder and the wingless virgin have an oval body, widened at the sides.
It is colored brown, black or green, covered with a coating that resembles wax. In winged individuals, the head, antennae and chest are black, the abdomen is lighter.
- Geographic distribution. Europe, North America, Central Asia and Transcaucasia.
- What plants are found? Prefers beets, jasmine, euonymus, beans, poppy seeds, viburnum, spring vetch, sunflowers and potatoes.
- Features of development. Alternation of generations throughout the growing season of forage plants, the last generation mates and lays hibernating eggs.
- What harm does it do? Leaves wrinkle and curl, the plant is inhibited in growth and may die. Transfers various viral diseases.
Mealy (shaggy)
The wingless female has a pinkish - cream body, oval in shape. Numerous bristles are located on the sides. The whole body is covered with a snow-white coating, reminiscent of flour.
The winged female differs from the wingless female only in the presence of wings.
- Geographic location. Everywhere.
- What plants are found? Prefers citrus fruits, grapes, most indoor and greenhouse plants.
- Development. The female can lay up to 2 thousand eggs, from which larvae soon appear. They are mobile and creep over all the surrounding plants, sucking the juice out of them. At home and in greenhouses, development and reproduction is continuous.
- Harmfulness. Deformation of branches and stems, drying and dropping of buds and leaves, inhibition of development, weakening of the protective qualities of plants.
Rose green
All forms and stages of development are not very different from each other. Any individual has an elliptical green body., brown long antennae, sword-shaped elongated tail.
- Geographic distribution. It lives almost everywhere.
- What plants are found? In addition to roses and rose hips, aphids can settle on strawberries, pears and apple trees.
- Features of development. It goes through a full cycle. Hibernates on branches in the egg stage. The founders produce on average about 80 eggs each. It reproduces in greenhouses and greenhouses all year round.
- What harm does it do? They inhibit the growth of bushes, the leaves curl, the buds do not bloom, weakened plants do not tolerate the winter cold and the attack of viruses poorly.
How to properly handle plants?
Rules for processing plants against aphids:
- Treatment with drugs will be effective if they get to all infected areas. But since aphids wrap up the leaves, this is very difficult to do. Some growers dip the shoots directly into the solution if the plant is compact enough.
- You can use a cellophane bag. Spray the aerosol and close the bag for a day. In this case, 100% death of all pests.
- Prepare a ladder when processing large specimens.
- Optimal rate: for each sq. cm should get up to 50 drops. It is worth paying attention to the sprayer so that its spread is large.
- Aphid remedies should be changed from time to time, as they are addictive.
- Spray preparations with an oil base strictly on the leaves and trunk, but not on the buds and flowers. They stick together and fall off from such a hit.
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Where do they come from?
A large number of aphid species live in nature and some of them switched to cultivated plants. What are the causes or what causes aphids?
Most often, aphids fall into plantings with new ones, not tested for infestation by plants. An old, unkempt site always contains a large number of aphids and infects adjacent areas.
Moreover, ants help aphids to settle, transferring them to new plants.
Grain
This type of aphid prefers to settle in the steppe and forest-steppe regions. The favorite habitat of grain aphids is the fields of cereal crops. Most willingly, these parasites inhabit millet and wheat fields. Their presence is detrimental to the ear.
To be more precise, the stalk affected by the cereal aphid does not spike at all if the parasites settled on it before the start of pollination. If they have chosen the stem after pollination of the ears, then the grain under their influence becomes very light, often empty.
Hermes
The founder has a shiny black body. Subsequent generations are covered with white fluffy hairs.
- Geographic distribution. Wherever there are conifers.
- What plants are found? Any conifers, especially spruce, pines, larch and cedar.
- Development. Incomplete. 4-5 generations appear per season.
- Harmfulness. They disrupt the development and fruiting of trees, weakening the protective abilities and reducing the decorative effect.
Ways to enter the house
Aphids are extremely small insects. During most of the warm season, females are born, which do not need to look for a male to continue their offspring. Penetration of only one pest with a body length of up to 2 mm on the windowsill is fraught with infection of all indoor flowers per month.
Where does aphid come from:
- enters the house with soil when transplanting plants;
- together with cut flowers in the flowerbed;
- with clothes, shoes;
- when airing the room, temporarily finding flowers on the balcony, street.
On a note!
The most favorable conditions for the reproduction of small parasites are high temperatures, dry soil.
