Leaf gall aphid control measures. leaf gall aphid


What is a leaf gall aphid that colonizes red, white and black currant bushes? This is a small insect about 2.2 millimeters long. It refers to sucking representatives. Favorite delicacy, which are young growing shoots and currant leaves. Pests are kept in colonies on the underside of the leaf plate. In places damaged by aphids, neoplasms of dark red, cherry or yellow color in the form of swellings and tubercles, which are called galls.

Life cycle of leaf gall aphid on currant:

The gall aphid overwinters on currants in the stage of eggs, which the female lays in autumn on the bark of annual shoots near the buds. With the arrival of spring and the established positive air temperature, when the buds begin to bloom, the larvae hatch. A wingless generation of hungry aphids is born, which needs something to eat. Young currant leaves that have not yet formed and green juicy shoots become the main food base for the pest.

By July, when the growth of the shoots and leaf plates of the currant stops, the gall aphid has wings and leaves the bushes. The pest migrates mainly to wild and varietal herbaceous plants, where it continues to feed on their juice. Over the summer, more than one or two generations of this pest manage to appear. Surprisingly, aphids, like other insects, are very prolific. By autumn, around September, the pests return to the currant bushes to lay eggs.

Gall aphids are especially dangerous for young currant bushes. Hot weather and availability a large number pest on garden plot capable of killing young plants. Damaged leaves and young shoots curl up and dry out. On adult shrubs, the berries become smaller, and the yield of plants decreases.

To attract beneficial insects that can significantly reduce the population of gall aphids on currant bushes, it is worth taking care of planting special nectar-bearing plants. It can be marigolds, alyssum.

Ladybugs can be attracted by planting in the garden Compositae plants: P Izhma; t yarrow; m of arguerite.

Many garden-friendly insects are attracted to dill and buckwheat plantings. In addition, using special bait, you can force ladybugs and lacewings live on personal plot. To do this, you can spray plants with Wheast sold in garden stores.

In advanced cases, insecticides are used to protect currant bushes from leaf gall aphids.

Spraying is carried out in three stages:

First produced at the time of flowering of the currant, when the buds open;

Second- after the shrubs have faded;

Third- after full harvest.

Second aphid spray experienced gardeners recommend to produce natural insecticidal solutions. Here are some of their recipes:

Tobacco infusion

Makhorka or tobacco dust - 400-800 gr.

Water - 10 liters.

Laundry soap - 100 gr.

Pour shag or tobacco dust with water and let it brew for several days. Then the infusion is filtered through gauze and the resulting liquid is diluted with another 10 liters of water with the addition of grated soap.

An effective remedy from the leaf gall aphid, an infusion of marigolds showed itself:

Dry crushed marigolds - 12 10 liter buckets

Water - 10 liters

Laundry soap - 40 grams

Marigolds are poured warm water and infused for 2 days. After that, the prepared solution is filtered and grated soap is added. Everything is mixed until the soap is completely dissolved.

And a few more recipes for phyto infusions to combat leaf gall aphids on currants:

Red pepper tincture

To prepare the concentrate, you will need the following ingredients:

Red spicy pepper(raw pod) - 1 kg;

Water - 10 liters;

Laundry soap - 30-40 grams.

Pepper must be cut and put in an enamel bowl. Then pour cold water and put on fire. After the contents boil, simmer over low heat for about 1 hour. Then let cool and place in warm place for several days. Then we filter the resulting concentrate, bottle it, and store it in a cool room.

A working solution is being prepared to combat aphids on currants as follows:

For 10 liters of water, about 150 ml of the prepared concentrate is taken. Grated soap is also added there. For better dissolution, all this can be heated, and then allowed to cool.

Hello, please tell me how to deal with red currant disease. We have had it since 2000, but I saw this for the first time last summer. Red pimples appeared on the branches, and red swellings appeared on the leaves. She looked at the leaves and found no one there. What is this disease and what are the causes of its occurrence? How to treat bushes? Help, I beg you. Thank you very much in advance!

Sincerely, your reader Elena Tsvirko, Nesvizh district.

Dear Elena! Leaf gall aphids have settled on your bushes, which mainly affects young leaves of red, white and black currants. Causes the formation of cherry-red galls on the leaves.

The pest hibernates in the stage of eggs laid in autumn on the bark of young shoots near the buds. The larvae hatch during bud break. In spring and early summer, a wingless generation appears, and later - winged females, capable of flying over considerable distances. In July, when shoot growth stops, aphids migrate to herbaceous wild and weed plants, and in September they return to currants to lay eggs.

Control measures

With a strong development of aphids, during the period of bud break before currant flowering, and also after harvesting, the bushes should be sprayed with one of the following insecticides: actellik (15 ml per 10 l of water) or novaktion (5 ml / 10 l of water).

After flowering, insecticidal solutions of the following phytoncidal plants can also be used to control aphids:

  • infusion of marigolds - place dry crushed plants in an enameled ten-liter bucket (1/2 bucket), add warm water to the brim and insist for 2 days, then strain and add 40 g laundry soap. Spraying is carried out only until the first signs of berry ripening and resume after harvest;
  • tobacco infusion - take 400-800 g of shag or tobacco dust, pour 10 liters of water, preferably hot, and insist for two days. Then strain the infusion through a sparse cloth and carefully squeeze out the sediment. Dilute the resulting liquid in 10 liters of water and add 100 g of laundry soap;
  • tomato infusion - 4 kg of chopped fresh or 2 kg of dry tops, pour 10 liters of water and boil over low heat for 30 minutes. After cooling, strain the broth. For spraying, for every 10 liters of water, take 2 - 3 liters of decoction and add 40 g of soap. The resulting infusion can also be used to combat ticks, herbivorous bugs, cabbage white caterpillars, moths, codling moth, cabbage scoop, meadow borer, rapeseed sawfly larvae, cruciferous fleas, to scare away the gooseberry sawfly and moth;
  • infusion of garlic - 0.5 kg of garlic cloves finely chopped, grind, put in a glass three-liter jar, fill with water at room temperature. Leave to infuse in a dark place and strain after 5 days. For spraying against aphids, it is enough to take 60 g of this for 10 liters of water. garlic infusion and 50 g of soap. You can use dry leaves and husks of garlic (100 - 150 g), infuse them in 10 liters of water for 24 hours. Infusion to use immediately after preparation;
  • infusion of capsicum red - cut 1 kg of raw fruits and pour 10 liters of water, boil for 1 hour in a closed enameled bowl, leave for 2 days, strain, bottle, store in a cool and dark room. To prepare a working solution, take 125 - 150 ml of concentrate per 10 liters of water and add 30 - 40 g of soap. The resulting solution can also be used to combat suckers, slugs, thrips, and moths.

Very ugly growths, swollen areas on the leaves of red currant varieties are the results of the activity of gall aphids. The pest feeds on culture juices and causes deformation of its green parts. Most of all, aphids love fresh shoots - by destroying them, it reduces the chances of high yields in future. The gall aphid is visually similar to aphids of other species.

In length, the insect is usually no more than 2 mm, there are insects without wings, which in some generations (they will be discussed in the article) become winged. Among the differences are a pale green-yellow (up to transparent) cover, a hairy body.

During one season, up to two dozen generations of this insect develop - and the warmer the climate in your region, the higher this indicator. High fecundity only further exacerbates the harmfulness of aphids - you think that you have defeated it, but another offspring is on the way.

Pest life cycles

Aphids suck out the main juices from the currant, thereby depleting the shoots and causing a decrease in yield. To heal the resulting wounds, the plant produces additional tissues that form galls. If nothing is done with the aphid, it will reproduce new offspring and eat branches until it destroys them. Find out why swollen buds appear on currants.

Aphids attract ants to the garden, which protect harmful insect from entomophages and contribute to its most active reproduction. The ants themselves are also not good for the garden, they like to eat grape and strawberry juices.

gall aphid - main reason viral infectious diseases currants. Young shoots, even after the pest is exterminated, grow poorly, recover for a long time and may not recover at all until the end. The natural result of this is the deterioration of productivity.

For life cycle insect is characterized by the phenomenon of polyformism. It's about that different generations of insects differ in appearance and can perform certain functions. Let's stop at this moment details:

  1. The founder emerges from the egg. She plays the role of the foremother of all seasonal generations of individuals. The founder belongs to parthenogenetic viviparous - it produces viable female insects only, which are responsible for the generation of new offspring.
  2. Virgins- the main part of the gall aphid, which can be seen on currants. Virgins do not have wings, so insects live on the host plant all the time, females reproduce their own kind.
  3. settler- winged pest. When the colony grows or is severely depleted fodder base, settlers fly to new places and make their next settlement there.
  4. Polonoski- a transitional generation of an insect pest, from which females capable of laying eggs appear.
  5. Females with males– bisexual generations responsible for wintering. They lay eggs in the stems, from where the founders emerge in the spring.

How does the development of the pest

The gall leaf aphid lays eggs under the bark of red currant branches closer to the buds. Here, the larva, depending on the specific climatic conditions of the region, weather factors, can stay up to 9 months. In the spring, as the buds open, the founders emerge from the eggs and begin to populate the plant. The insect reproduces during abundant flowering shrub. The peak of harmfulness occurs in June, when the colony becomes as large as possible. In the second half of summer, currant leaves coarsen, and aphids settle on intermediate plants. Several more generations of the pest, which we wrote about above, feed on the leaves. The bisexual generation is immediately hatched, which will eventually return to the currant for laying eggs (that is, closer to autumn). Read how to protect currants from aphids.

Folk recipes

Some plants contain pyrethrins, fungicides and other substances that have a devastating effect on gall aphids. Use this knowledge for pest control. Pro ammonia from aphids on currants will tell.

Folk remedies used to process currants are quite effective, but in the early stages. If the pest has hit the bushes badly, you need chemicals.

To enhance the effect in infusions add liquid soap, enveloping the body of an insect and blocking its access to oxygen. Basic recipes:


Insecticides

If the gall aphid has greatly bred, it will not be possible to do without insecticides. Since chemicals are quite aggressive, spraying is done during budding, and then after harvesting. Main drugs:

The sachet is designed for single use - 10 liters of liquid will be enough. The concentration is sometimes increased - if the lesion is very strong.

  • Actellik- a universal insecticidal preparation with high activity against aphids, weevils, mites, whiteflies, and other insects. The main active ingredient is pyrimiphos-methyl. Release form - 2 ml ampoules, diluted in water. The action begins a few minutes after spraying, expect maximum results in 3-4 days. The contents of the ampoule are diluted in 2 liters of water and mixed thoroughly. This amount is enough to process 10 squares of landings.
  • Vofatoks- insecticide-acaricide, effective against most insect pests. Dilute the contents of the ampoule in 5-10 liters of water, depending on the extent of the lesion, and use for spraying.
  • Proteus- combined action insecticide, oil formula. It works well at temperatures ranging from 8 to 30 degrees. It is not toxic to plants, there is a possibility of resistance development, the effect is noticeable for 3-4 days. For processing use solutions in serial sprayers (they are ready for use).

Prepare the drug should be for one application.

Biological

Biologics are also effective, but not as toxic as chemical insecticides. Consider the most popular:

  • Bitoxibacillin– the formula contains protein crystals and bacteria. Sold in the form of a concentrated solution - it is diluted at the rate of 100 ml per bucket of water. For processing, use sprayers. In the heat, the procedure is carried out with a weak solution, but more often. For plants, animals, humans, bees, Bitoxibacillin is not harmful. They are processed, including a few days before harvesting currants.
  • Aktofit- a biological remedy for aphids, the main active component of which is a natural neurotoxin. It strikes nervous system insects. The processing efficiency is high, but it depends on the weather, temperature environment. It is advisable to spray the solution in dry and clear, not very hot weather. In the heat of about 30 degrees, the concentration of the solution is reduced by a quarter. Aphids begin to die 3 days after treatment. Aktofit does not cause addiction in insects.

Dilute in water immediately before use. Facilities personal protection need to use.

  • Avertin- a biological pesticide that blocks the transmission of nerve impulses in arthropods. Resistance has not been identified. The effect is cumulative, systemic, fumigation. Adsorption to soil particles is fast. For humans and warm-blooded animals, the drug is practically not dangerous.

The main active components of biological preparations are spores of bacteria, fungi, viruses. They enter the intestines of aphids and paralyze its work.

Prevention

Carefully and regularly inspect currant bushes in order to respond to diseases in time (

Aphids are considered among summer residents one of the most malicious pests.

They settle on leaves, stems and roots, they crawl and fly, and wherever they stop "to stay and feed" - the plants begin to have big problems.

What is dangerous aphid

Leaf aphids quickly weaken young plants by sucking them out cell sap. At the same time, it also secretes poison, due to which the leaves curl, deform and die, the shoots stop growing, the tops are bent. Sweet secretions (natural excretions) pollute the leaf surface, disrupt the normal life of plants.

Through saliva, aphids can infect plants with harmful viruses, which can lead to extensive damage, especially in gardens or professional rose gardens. When the aphid colonies become too large, the leaves and young shoots wither and die.

The greatest harm aphids inflict young fruit trees.


Aphids can produce up to 50 generations per summer

If you do not use any special techniques against this pest, aphids in a completely natural way, without straining, giving up to fifty generations over the summer, will cause significant damage to any, even the most well-groomed summer cottage. Not without reason, only in the northern hemisphere, about 450 species of leaf aphids are among the most significant in agriculture, forestry and gardening.


The aphids must be fought

It is extremely difficult to fight aphids: it multiplies rapidly and incessantly. Therefore, we must try to get rid of it faster than it will save us from the harvest.

What to consider in the fight against aphids

We repeat, before rushing at the enemy, we need to understand where this problem “legs grow from” in order to correctly, wisely approach the fight against the pest.

1. Where and why do aphids appear?

The aphid feeds on the sap of the plant, piercing its skin with its proboscis. Old hard leaves are too tough for her, she needs the most tender leaves and buds. This means that the likely sites of damage are the youngest parts of plants. Simply put, the tops of shrubs and the underside of the leaves. Therefore, our task is protect young shoots and leaves.

You can find a wide range of biologics to combat aphids in our catalog, which combines the offers of various garden online stores. .


Basil repels aphids


The enemy of aphids is a ladybug

To lure hoverflies to the site, it is advised to plant them. Hoverflies do not destroy aphids, they feed on daisy pollen. But the larvae of hoverflies in large quantities absorb aphids that are nearby. Therefore, inviting hoverflies to the dacha, you will not lose.

Ground beetles will choose nightshade and, and lacewing will prefer cool shady places covered with fern thickets for breeding.

Can be placed in the garden flower pots with wood shavings - earwigs, which are also not averse to eating aphids, can settle in them.

In addition, ladybug and lacewing larvae can be purchased at specialized garden centers (or ordered by mail), and then released on your site.

Birds

What is especially pleasing: aphid is an object of prey for many small birds. They feed it to their chicks. Willingly eat aphids:
  • sparrows;
  • Chiffchaffs;
  • willow warblers;
  • tits;
  • kinglets;
  • wrens;
  • robins-robins;
  • hemp.
To attract these birdies, you can hang birdhouses (and) in your summer cottage, arrange water containers - in a word, make the birds want to fly here.

But! If you have already decided to attract beneficial insects and birds to help, you will have to completely abandon the use of pesticides on the site!


Birds willingly feed on aphids

Aphids are one of the most malicious pests of garden and indoor plants, with which almost every summer resident or florist is familiar with firsthand. Indeed, due to their fertility, insects settle on summer cottages huge colonies. Using plant sap as food, they are able to destroy entire gardens or fields. This article will tell you more about the pest.

Description of the insect

Hope that the meeting with dangerous enemy garden and garden will not happen, all the same it is not worth it. It is better to arm yourself with knowledge and find out what aphids look like in order to prevent the possibility of harm.

  • The aphid is a small insect whose size does not exceed 8 mm. Individuals living on indoor plants, much less than about 0.5 mm.
  • Depending on the species, the soft transparent body of a tiny pest may be in the form of a drop, oval or ellipse.
  • The color of the aphid corresponds to 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 density and length.
  • Antennae are located on the trapezoidal head. They consist of several segments and serve as organs of hearing and touch.
  • Thanks to complex compound eyes, which are black, red or brown, aphids are the owners of clear vision.
  • The mouth of the aphid is a small proboscis, with which the insect makes a puncture in sheet plate and sucks the juice out of it.

Interesting!

Thanks to 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, a certain type of activity in a given colony is assigned to each individual. The presence of wings is not a sexual sign, so the winged aphid can be both female and male. Distinctive feature wingless individuals are 3 additional simple eyes. A photo of aphids is presented below.


The abdomen is divided into 9 segmented parts. On the first seven spiracles are located. On the subsequent segments there are nipple tubes that perform excretory and secretory functions. The last segment is underdeveloped and looks like a hairy tail.

Nutrition

Pests live in large colonies. Settling on the plant, they primarily affect the leaves and young shoots. Aphids also eat flower buds, roots and stems of plants. As a result, plantings weaken and gradually wither. Insects do not disdain any vegetation. Only certain types aphids have a preference for certain types of trees, shrubs, or grasses.

Quite often they coexist with. The fact is that fall (sweet viscous liquid, which aphids secrete during their life) - this is what the ant eats and loves very much. It is for this reason that garden goosebumps protect small pests from natural enemies: hoverflies and.

reproduction


With the advent of warm days, a wingless female emerges from the aphid egg laid in the autumn in the bark of a tree, which becomes the founder of the colony. In the spring at favorable conditions the female aphid, reproducing parthenogenetically, gives life to similar virgin individuals.

On a note!

Aphid parthenogenesis 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 her relatively short life, and a virgin female lives no more than a month, she manages to reproduce several thousand similar creatures into the world.

Aphid larvae are similar to adults. They grow quickly, undergoing several molts. After two weeks, the young individual is already becoming sexually mature. Thus, the number 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.

What are the types of aphids

Insects are representatives of the Hemiptera order, in which there are about 4 thousand species (about a thousand live on the European continent). All varieties of aphids prefer warm and moist climatic conditions, which allow you to increase your population several times. Under unfavorable conditions, pest colonies can simply die. Below are the most common types of pests.


domestic aphid

Room aphid, or as it is also called "home", includes several subspecies that differ in body color. There is a red aphid, as well as individuals of white, black or green color. This pest is especially well known to lovers of home flowers. They know .

Mealy aphid

The mealy aphid is a cream-colored insect with an oval-shaped body with bristles on the sides. The surface of the body is covered with snow white coating. Powdery aphids suffer from indoor and greenhouse plants, as well as citrus and. The presence of insects gives off a whitish tint that covers the leaves of the plant. This contributes to the deformation of the stem, drying and falling of leaves and buds.

potato aphid

Wingless individuals, the oval body of which is colored red or green color. An insect up to 4 mm long has long antennae and a tail. This species is remarkable in that it is adapted to low temperatures. These insects are fed vegetable crops: potatoes, beets or. IN winter time of the year potato aphid prefers to settle on indoor and greenhouse plants.

On a note!

You can detect a pest by the spots left by it, dried mesh or mold in places of large accumulation of honeydew.

cherry aphid

This type of aphid differs from its counterparts in a brilliant black color. Pests live predominantly, with the latter plant being more vulnerable. Eggs hibernate in buds and on tree branches; with the advent of spring, females appear from them - the founders of the colony.

Black aphids are especially active on young shoots and foliage in spring time of the year. With the advent of summer, the surface of the plants coarsens, which leads to the death of most of the colony. However, up to this point, insects manage to cause enormous damage. fruit plants: growth retardation, the formation of fewer fruit buds, small and non-juicy fruits. Cherry aphid-infested trees are more susceptible to disease and less resistant to frost.

grain aphid

This species is an inhabitant of the steppe and forest-steppe zones; individuals also settle in fields sown with wheat, rye, barley or millet. The presence of insects during the period when the ear is not yet formed leads to the fact that the plants remain practically uneared. If pollination has already taken place, the grains are formed light and most often empty.

cabbage aphid

It is a wingless insect, the size of which does not exceed 2.5 mm. The body, covered with a grayish wax coating, has an ovoid shape and a yellow-green color.

Aphids lay their eggs for wintering in cabbage leftovers left on the site. By mid-spring, larvae appear from them, which, like adults, feed on plant sap. What inhibits the growth and development of a cabbage head.

apple aphid

There are 3 types of insects that threaten:

  • Red (bloody) - the most dangerous type of aphid, whose representatives affect root system trees.
  • Gray aphid - lives mainly on apple trees and hawthorn during the formation of leaves. From which only the foliage that has appeared is twisted, and the damage sites are covered with a characteristic dark red color. This leads to shedding of ovaries and stunting of damaged young shoots, as a result of which they do not survive in frosts.
  • Green aphid - is a danger not only to apple trees, it also affects pear, shadberry and mountain ash. The areas damaged by aphids begin to turn black, and soot fungus appears on the branches.

leaf aphid

Leaf or grass aphids are active only in the summer, preferring young plants. She sucks the juice out of them, as a result of which the leaves and branches are deformed, which can even lead to the death of the seedling. It also settles on lawn and indoor flowers.

On a note!

The female winged flying aphid is yellow with a lemon tint, the wingless individuals are brown in color. It is this type of aphid that ants graze.

tobacco aphid

Tobacco (peach or greenhouse) aphid lives on tobacco, peach, almonds, and other plants. She settles on them at the very beginning of spring.

The peach aphid has a yellow-green color that camouflages it well on damaged plants. As a result of the presence of insects, the leaves turn yellow and become lifeless. Honeydew, which the pest releases in the process of life, leads to the appearance of a soot fungus, and subsequently to shedding of foliage. If you do not take timely measures to combat aphids, you can lose a large part of the crop.

To combat these insidious insects, there are good ones. If there is no desire to use chemicals, you can use those that have proven themselves in business.

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