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Raspberries are a common fruit shrub that many gardeners prefer to grow in their gardens. After all, its delicious aromatic fruits are liked not only by adults, but also by children, and healing jam based on them helps treat colds and coughs. To get a good raspberry harvest, you need to follow basic care rules. They also include pest control, one of which is the raspberry beetle. This insect damages the leaves and fruits of the bush. And if you don’t fight it, you can’t count on high raspberry productivity.
The raspberry beetle can destroy 30-50% of the crop
What does a raspberry beetle look like?
This pest is small in size. The body length of the raspberry beetle (Byturus tomentosus) does not exceed 4 mm. The color is dark gray or brown, and in the abdominal area at the edges of the pronotum there is a reddish tint. The raspberry beetle has three pairs of legs, and on its head there are club-shaped antennae consisting of 11 segments.
The eggs of the pest are ellipsoidal, up to 1 mm in size, white or yellowish in color. The larva is worm-shaped, having three pairs of pectoral legs. The length of its body reaches 6-6.5 mm.The color of the larvae is light brown or yellowish. The body is covered with short light hairs. Transverse dark spots are visible on the back. And at the end of the body the larva has two hook-shaped spines curved upward. The pupa of the raspberry beetle is white, 3-4 mm long.
Signs of damage to bushes
Initially, the pest feeds on young raspberry leaves. When affected, holes appear on the plates between the veins of the second order. In the future, you can find other characteristic signs of the vital activity of brown beetles on raspberries.
From flowers partially damaged by the pest, small, ugly-shaped berries grow, and the fruits in which the larvae have settled become dull, wither and rot.
What harm does
Raspberry beetles eat not only raspberries, but also feed on nectar and anthers of currant, cherry, gooseberry, apple, pear, plum, and bird cherry flowers. If you do not fight this pest in the garden, the productivity of all fruit bushes and trees decreases.
The raspberry beetle overwinters in the soil next to raspberries at a depth of 10 cm. At the end of April, when the air temperature warms up to +12 °C, the raspberry beetle begins its active flight. Initially, adults feed on young raspberry leaves and weeds. And after full restoration of strength after winter, the raspberry beetle begins the mating process. Female pests lay eggs in raspberry buds, one at a time, between the pistils and stamens. And by the time the ovary is formed, larvae appear from them. Initially, they spend three days outside the fruit, and then bite into the berries, feeding on the fruit and drupes. This leads to spoilage of most of the crop.
In the larval phase, the raspberry beetle lives on raspberries for 1.5 months, and after that it goes into the soil to pupate. A new generation of sexually mature beetles appears at the end of August, beginning of September.
Each female raspberry beetle lays up to 40 eggs during the season.
How to get rid of the raspberry beetle
You need to combat the raspberry beetle in a comprehensive manner. Only in this case can the desired result be achieved. To destroy adults and larvae of the raspberry beetle, you can use traditional methods, chemical and biological products, as well as agricultural techniques. Strict adherence to the recommendations will not only significantly reduce the number of pests on the site, but also completely get rid of them.
Traditional methods of fighting the raspberry beetle
In order for folk remedies to help solve the problem, you need to know what the raspberry beetle is afraid of. They should be prepared on the basis of components that repel the pest or have a detrimental effect on it. Almost all of them are present in every home or getting them is not difficult.
Effective remedies that will help get rid of mustache beetles on raspberries:
- Tobacco dust. To obtain an effective remedy, you need to pour 200 g of this component into 2 liters of water and simmer over low heat for two hours. Then allow the broth to cool and then strain it. The resulting product should be watered on raspberries in early spring, after diluting it with water in a ratio of 1:3.
- Baking soda. This component must be applied before the raspberry buds form. To spray bushes against raspberry beetles, you need to dissolve 1 tbsp. l. baking soda in 10 liters of water.
- Potassium permanganate.To combat the pest, it is necessary to prepare a solution at the rate of 1 g of component per 20 liters of water and mix it thoroughly. The resulting product should be watered on raspberry bushes in early spring immediately after the snow melts.
- Mustard powder. This folk remedy should be used when the first damage to the leaves from the raspberry beetle appears. Initially, 100 g of mustard powder must be mixed with a small amount of warm water until it reaches a creamy consistency. And then dilute the concentrate with 10 liters of water. The resulting solution should be used to spray fruit bushes against raspberry beetles before flowering. If necessary, repeat the procedure three times with a break of three days.
- Tansy. The pest cannot stand the smell of this plant. Tansy inflorescences should be used for processing, as they have a high concentration of essential oils. To prepare an effective remedy, you need to pour 2 liters of hot water and leave for a day. After the time has passed, put the solution on low heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Then it needs to be cooled and strained. Before spraying the bushes, the concentrate must be diluted with water so that the total volume of liquid is 10 liters.
Chemicals
These raspberry beetle control measures can be applied before and after flowering. You cannot spray the bushes when the buds have opened, as this will negatively affect the ovary of the berries. It is recommended to carry out the procedure in dry, windless weather, observing personal safety measures.
Effective drugs against raspberry beetle:
- Fufanon;
Fufanon begins to act two hours after treatment
- Spark;
The spark is effective at temperatures from +5 to +30° C
- Karbofos.
Karbofos is recommended for use in case of large numbers of raspberry beetles.
Biological products
To protect fruit bushes from raspberry beetles, biological preparations should also be used. Their peculiarity is that they have a low level of toxicity and can be used even at the stage of fruit ripening.
Effective remedies:
- Guapsin. The drug has insecticidal and fungicidal properties. Compatible with many products in one tank mixture. Guapsin begins to act 36-48 hours after spraying. Protection lasts for seven days. The drug should be diluted in a ratio of 1:40 with water, the temperature of which should be +20 °C.
Guapsin increases crop yields
- Tobacco soap. This product is made on the basis of tobacco and fir extract to ensure its effective use against the raspberry beetle. The product also contains vegetable oils, potassium salts and natural fats. Initially, the required amount of concentrate must be diluted in 1 liter of water, and then the total volume of liquid must be increased to 10 liters. The resulting solution should be sprayed on the bushes in the morning in dry weather. It is recommended to use tobacco soap against the raspberry beetle three times every five days.
Tobacco soap helps against many pests, except ticks
Agrotechnical techniques
This method of control cannot completely clear the area of the raspberry beetle, but it helps to significantly reduce its number.
Effective ways to combat:
- Autumn digging of a plot with raspberries without damaging the roots.
- In spring, it is necessary to constantly loosen the rows and remove weeds.
- Repeatedly shaking off the beetles during the raspberry budding period on a spread tarpaulin at its base with their further destruction.
- Thin out the plantings, preventing them from thickening.
Prevention measures
To maintain high raspberry yields and the quality of the berries, it is necessary not only to destroy the beetle, but also to prevent its reappearance on the site. To do this, certain preventive measures must be observed. They are unable to eliminate the possibility of damage, but help to reduce it to a minimum.
Basic preventive measures:
- Separate cultivation of fruiting and vegetative shoots of ordinary raspberries in order to disrupt the food connection of the raspberry beetle with the plant.
- Mulch the plantings with coniferous litter in a layer of at least 5 cm.
- Covering the ground at the base of the raspberry with black agrofibre from the end of summer so that the beetles cannot go deeper into the soil for wintering.
- If possible, cover the bushes with nylon netting or gauze before flowering.
- Regularly feed raspberries with organic matter and wood ash.
Conclusion
The raspberry beetle is a dangerous pest that can ruin all the gardener’s efforts. And even in the absence of signs of damage, you should not neglect preventive treatments of shrubs with insecticides and fungicides, as well as fertilizing.After all, the higher the plant’s immunity, the less likely it is to be affected by pests and diseases.
