July beetle (marbled, variegated) - photo and description

The marbled beetle, also called the marbled beetle or July beetle, is an agricultural pest. These insects belong to the order Coleoptera and the family Lamellate. They are close to cockchafers, but much larger. The color of the insect is black or brown, and the carapace and head are covered with white spots, which give a special marble pattern. Hence the name of this beetle. The size of the marbled beetle is 3-4 cm. On the head of the male there are beautiful large lamellar mustaches. The antennae of females look much more modest. The insect's abdomen has gray hairs. When in danger, the beetle makes a kind of scaring sound, similar to a squeak.

The greatest harm is caused by the larvae of the marbled beetle, which eat the roots of herbaceous plants and young trees. They can cause serious damage to crop plantations, as well as orchards and vineyards.

These insects live in Southern Europe. In Russia - mainly in the south, and in the middle zone these insects are less common. We do not often see adult beetles, this is due to the long period of their development and growth.

What does a July beetle look like?

Nekhrushch is a medium-sized insect, body length reaches 16 mm. The hard shell is dark brown in color. The elytra are light yellow with longitudinal convex lines, shiny. Legs and antennae are reddish. The chest is covered with thick, long white hairs. The mustache is curly and short. The limbs end in claws.

Interesting!
The marbled beetle has an impressive size and an unusual body color. The adult grows up to 40 mm. The body is large, elongated, convex, the shell is hard, painted in a characteristic marble color. Females of the July beetle are smaller than males and have a shorter body. A photo of the July beetle is shown below.

The larva of the marbled beetle is long - up to 80 mm, thick, and has a body curved like the letter “C”. The head is red. There are no eyes.

Marble Khrushchev: description

Belonging to the lamellar beetle family, the beetle is characterized by a black-brown color and fairly large dimensions (about 30-45 mm in length). A distinctive feature is the elytra, head and pronotum with multiple whitish spots forming a marbled pattern. The abdomen is pubescent, covered in light gray hairs. The front legs are digging, about 35 mm long. The antennae are brownish-rusty, geniculate, fan-shaped, curved, with a club consisting of 7 plates. Females have more modest ones, with 5 short parts.

Lifestyle

The July beetle is ubiquitous in our area. A large generation of Khrushchevs is replacing the May ones. It is active from late June to early August. During the day they hide in the soil, and at dusk they crawl out of their hiding places.

Females are inactive, rarely fly, and spend their entire lives in the territory of their birth. Males easily rise into the air and fly from tree to tree in search of better food. With the first rays of sunshine they burrow into the soil and rest all day. The marbled beetle feeds on leaves. Prefers fruit trees, conifers, oak, and grapes.

July beetle

Notes

Striganova B. R., Zakharov A. A.
Five-language dictionary of animal names: Insects (Latin-Russian-English-German-French) - www.infanata.org/info/dict/1146113406-pyatiyazychnyj-slovar-nazvanij-zhivotnyx-nasekomye .html / Ed. Doctor of Biology sciences, prof. B. R. Striganova. - M.: RUSSO, 2000. - P. 119. - 1060 copies. — ISBN 5-88721-162-8
↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 S. I. Medvedev
1 // Fauna of the USSR.
Coleoptera: lamellaridae ( Scarabaeidae
);
Subfamily Melolonthinae (Khrushchi). / Chief editor acad. U. N. Pavlovsky
, editor
A. A. Stackelberg
. — New series: No. 46. - Moscow-Leningrad: Publishing House of the USSR Academy of Sciences, 1951. - 512 p. — 2000 copies.
Shevyrev, “On the boundaries of the distribution of cockchafers ( Melolontha
and
Polyphylla
) in Europe. Russia" (“Proceedings of the Russian Entomol. Society,” vol. 31, 1898, protocols

Reproduction

The main task of the imago is laying eggs. Mating occurs in the evening. The mating season lasts throughout July. The female lays about 50 eggs in the soil. After 20 days, white larvae with a red head appear. Initially, their size does not exceed 10 mm, gradually growing to 40 mm.

The larvae live in the soil, feed on plant roots, molt periodically, and increase in size. By the end of summer, the cubs of the motley beetle have time to get stronger, go deep to 1 m, and spend the winter. In the spring, when the soil begins to warm up, they choose closer to the surface. They will also have to spend the next winter underground in the form of a white fat worm.

In the third summer, the development of the larvae is completed. Pupation occurs. Over the course of a week, complex processes take place inside; as a result, a full-fledged marbled beetle with a variegated color is released to the surface.

Population and species status

Photo: Maybug

The genus of May beetles has a stable high population. This is due to the fertility of insects, their survival in different weather conditions, and the presence of a large amount of suitable food. The appearance of these beetles does not cause concern among scientists; the risk of their extinction is extremely low, despite the fact that people annually use various means to destroy the dangerous pest.

The population of the cockchafer in each territory of its natural habitat is quite unstable. There are periods when the number of these insects increases to critical levels. In this case, a person has to exterminate pests, because the latter can cause enormous damage to crop yields. The beetle reproduces at a fairly fast pace. One female is capable of laying about seventy eggs. Within thirty days, voracious larvae emerge from the eggs. From the first days they begin to eat the roots of plants, and their appetite grows every year.

The May beetle is a prominent representative of lamellar insects. These beetles are distinguished by their large size, bright color, determination and high fertility. May beetles are widespread throughout the planet, with the exception of the northern, cold regions. They appear with the first flowering of trees and are found in large numbers in orchards, mixed and coniferous forests. This animal is a dangerous pest. It causes great damage to crops every year. For this reason, gardeners and farmers are forced to combat the population of these insects using a variety of methods.

Harm

The July beetle does not bite, like its larvae, and does not threaten human life or health. Harm is often associated with the life activity of the insect and its young. A large colony of marbled beetles can destroy a vineyard, an apple orchard, and a coniferous forest in a few days. In real life, a situation with massive destruction of trees does not occur. No harm is felt from the marbled beetle. But the most dangerous individuals live not in trees, but underground.

On a note!
Residents of Germany suffer from attacks by marbled beetles and their larvae. In this country, beetleworm is called the main pest of agricultural crops, and they are actively fighting it.

The larvae eat little in the first year of their lives, but grow quickly. They feed on dead grass root systems. They become dangerous for agricultural crops at the last stage of their development - the third year. Thick larvae eat plant roots, thereby leading to the death of the crop. Seedlings, strawberries, young shrubs, peppers, tomatoes, etc. can suffer from pests.

July beetle

Maliciousness

Adult beetles eat little, and therefore there is no particular harm from them to plants. The most dangerous pests are larvae. First instar larvae eat young roots and

humus. Larvae of the second instar cause damage to grape roots and grape cuttings (chubuks). They gnaw roots and trunks or gnaw through stems and grape seedlings. As a result of this, the plant dies.

Third instar larvae do the same thing, and in addition they can bite into the roots of an old tree. In the absence of sufficient moisture in the soil, their activity intensifies. The larvae of the last year can gnaw the taproot of a young pine and gnaw the root of a large pine.

The harmfulness of these beetles is also increased by the fact that they usually settle on poor soils where plant resistance is reduced.

Khrushchev larvae cause particular harm in young plantings of vineyards and trees if measures have not been taken to remove these larvae before planting.

The larvae cause severe damage, especially on sandy soils with a small amount of humus. It was reported that there were years when in some vineyards on the banks of the Dnieper on such soils, marbled beetle larvae destroyed up to 70% of the planted grape stems.

Fighting methods

To get rid of a harmful beetle on your site, you need to combine several control methods.

Phacelia and eryngium are planted along the perimeter of the land. The plants attract the giant Scolia wasp, which is a natural enemy of the marbled beetle. The wasp searches for a larva underground and lays an egg on its body. A few days later, a baby wasp appears and begins to eat its prey.
Heaps of humus and manure are buried in the garden. High temperatures attract beetle larvae, mole crickets, and many other pests. In the fall, these heaps are dug up and the living creatures are destroyed.
One of the methods of protection is planting crops under agrofibre. Adult beetles do not have the opportunity to lay eggs and move to another territory. But before using this method, you need to make sure that the area is not infested with marbled beetle larvae.
Digging up the soil at the end of summer can save the site from becoming infected. Khrushchi do not lay eggs in loose soil. In the process of digging up the beds, the larvae of the last generation are discovered, which are located in the top layer of soil. Their destruction will help avoid the invasion of adults in the spring.

Of the chemical agents used to combat larvae, the most effective are those based on diazinon. They are introduced into the soil when planting seedlings, laid out between rows and beds.

Protective measures

In those places where the July beetle often spreads, it is necessary to apply a number of measures that will help protect the plantings.

Carry out deep plowing of the soil.
Attract birds to areas to hunt for beetles.
Treat plant roots when planting.
Apply insecticides to young plants.

Chemicals are used very rarely, only if there are 5 larvae per square meter. Then insecticidal preparations are added to the soil.

Prevention

Bearing in mind that it is easier to prevent trouble, we will tell you about preventive measures against scale insects. They are not at all difficult and should be performed in every garden:

Timely sanitary and rejuvenating spring pruning of apple trees. At the same time, branches that thicken the crown are also cut out.
Constantly inspect the tree for possible infection, because a small colony of pests is easier to destroy.
Inspection of seedlings purchased both from a good neighbor in the country, and from specialized stores and fruit nurseries.
Regular removal of lichens, mosses and peeling of bark, sanitary treatment of tree wounds with recommended preparations, the same garden varnish

Imago lifestyle

Clumsy insects with a thick body stay on the ground and crawl along stumps and herbaceous plants. Adults feed on cereals and love clover, dandelions, buttercups, anemones, and violets. If they find themselves near fields with vegetables, they damage agricultural crops. You can meet beetles in various biotypes: steppes, meadows, forest edges

To continue the life cycle, it is important to have nearby open areas suitable for solitary bees to settle.

Adults appear in spring, in April. After additional feeding they begin to mate. Beetles are slow and clumsy and do not run away from danger. Their hemolymph contains a highly toxic substance called cantharidin, which can kill small animals. When the oily liquid comes into contact with human skin, it causes an allergic reaction and blisters appear.

In regions where the area of meadows is shrinking, construction is taking place, plowing is taking place, grass is being mowed, and the number of purple t-shirts is decreasing. Due to the lack of wings, beetles cannot move long distances in search of new habitats.

Reproduction

Mating is the finale of the life of males; after transferring the seed to the female, they die. For laying, a place is chosen close to a colony of solitary bees. The female digs a hole in soft soil. In one clutch the number of eggs reaches 1000 pieces. The female makes 2-3 separate burrows with eggs. After this, it also dies. The larvae appear after 30-40 days.

The blister family is characterized by hypermetamorphosis. This type of insect development is transitional between complete and incomplete metamorphosis. The first instar larvae, called triungulins, differ from the older instars. External differences are related to lifestyle. Triungulins are actively moving, looking for hosts for further development. Once in a bee's nest, they moult and turn into short-legged, worm-like parasites that feed on honey. Before true pupation, insects go through a “false pupae” stage.

Let's summarize

Don't forget the rules of behavior in nature:

be extremely careful if you find poisonous insects - leave this place immediately;
wear protective clothing: covering parts of the body; mosquito repellent; not bright items of clothing;
treat exposed skin with insecticides;
if you are bitten by an insect, immediately treat the wound with antiseptics and drink an antiallergic drug;
if the wound festers and does not go away for a long time, consult a doctor;
and of course, information rules the world: study the “enemy”, find out where he lives, what he breathes.

Maybe you think the list is not complete? Mark in the comments who you forgot to include in the top of the most dangerous insects living in our country.

Report No. 2

The June beetle is called so because it is in June that we can observe the appearance of this insect after winter. Therefore, the beginning of summer is associated with this bug. But by mid-July it disappears. Despite such a short lifespan, it manages to cause enormous damage to plants. Beetles fly in large flocks mainly in the evening. And during the day they hide on the ground. The June beetle eats the leaves of both ornamental and fruit trees. It feeds on the leaves of young plants, including flowers. Loves to eat pine needles. It is no coincidence that I consider this insect one of the main pests of garden plots. Although the harm from it is much less than from the cockchafer.

This beetle belongs to the lamellar family. Belongs to the Khrushchev group. Therefore, it has another name - ordinary non-khrushch or non-khrushch-non-khrushch. Various types of beetles, a beetle called the bronze beetle, are all very close relatives of the June beetle.

Outwardly, it is very similar to the cockchafer, but it is a completely different insect. This beetle is brown in color with a darkish tint, and its wings are glossy, pink-yellow, but paler than those of the well-known cockchafer. They have small dots and not very prominent longitudinal ribs. The beetle's legs and antennae are red with shades of yellow. The insect's chest, like its belly, is very densely covered with long, thick, white hairs, which form triangular spots on the sides. The size of an adult beetle is 14-18 millimeters.

Female June beetles lay their eggs burrowed into soft soil. The development of hatched larvae occurs in the ground. They feed on the roots of various plants, causing great damage to agriculture. Since their diet in most cases is cereals. Therefore, to destroy the beetle pupae that have already formed by spring, it is recommended to plow the ground. Larvae can cause especially great harm to young roots of trees in nurseries if their care is not particularly thorough.

The June beetle is found almost everywhere. It lives throughout Russia. It can be seen on the Crimean Peninsula and the Caucasus. In the northern part, its distribution reaches Finland. The insect lives in a variety of places. But it prefers to settle in well-warmed soil, especially near coniferous forests.

Beetle larvae have several insect enemies. For example, these are wasps. They feed on them themselves and feed the larvae to their babies. This makes them indispensable assistants in the fight against June beetles.

Class 3 (description, species, where they live)

Internal structure

The internal life support systems of the cockchafer include:

digestive system;
respiratory system;
excretory system;
reproductive organs;
primitive circulatory system;
primitive nervous system.

The structure of the May beetle
The circulatory system consists only of a dorsal vessel, passing along the central axis of the beetle and “suspended” to the upper part of the chitinous skeleton. 3 primitive hearts are located in the abdomen of the insect.

The central nervous system includes:

the brain, consisting of two nodes of the suprapharyngeal ganglion;
peripharyngeal connectives;
ventral nerve cord.

The first two nodes are in the head, the rest in the torso.

The digestive system consists of the foregut, midgut and hindgut. In the first two sections, the insect assimilates food, the last is responsible for excrement and water exchange.

The female reproductive system includes:

2 ovaries;
2 oviducts;
1 “external” oviduct, through which the eggs enter the external environment;
spermatheca;
accessory sex glands.

The male has:

2 testes;
2 seed tubes;
vas deferens;
copulatory organ;
accessory sex glands.

Phylloxera

In case of large-scale spread, quarantine zones are created, because they can destroy hectares of plantings. It has a second name - grape aphid, because. reminds me of this insect.

All biological forms of phylloxera pose a threat to culture: larvae (vagrants), nymphs, winged and flightless adults.

The translucent lemon-yellow or greenish insect measures 1-2.5 mm.

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There are 2 varieties:

Leafy - the larvae pierce the plates with their proboscis and suck out the juice. Due to a special secretion in the saliva of the parasites, the greenery becomes deformed, galls (swellings and bumps) surrounded by hairs appear on it. Vagrants live inside these formations, turn into adults, leave offspring and die. New larvae infect adjacent leaves. This variety of phylloxera waits out the winter on boles and in perennial sleeves in the egg stage.
Root - affects the underground system. It weakens and fungal, viral and bacterial infections occur. Diseased roots stop developing and the tree dies over time.

Insects are difficult to exterminate, but still possible. The fight against them involves:

Deep planting, cutting off the top roots.
Treatment before planting: Bi-58, Karbofos, Fufanon. The seedlings are placed in a solution of preparations, then kept in plastic bags for 24 hours.
Treatment with Fastak, Actellik (2 times during the growing season). The first manipulation is carried out when the buds open at the 2-3 leaf stage. In July the procedure is repeated.

Processing is carried out according to the scheme described in the annotation for the drug.

The pest enters with wind, water, animals and birds, through gardening tools, and infected seedlings.

No to pests!

We haven’t been to our dacha for a long time, we just arrived, and there’s a sea of weeds! The strawberry beds are all overgrown. What preparations are best to spray strawberries?

Thank you, summer residents Sokolov, Yaroslavl region

It’s May, it’s warm, the weather is wonderful, everything in the garden is “just rushing and rushing”... Weeds also participate in the spring sprint and, unfortunately, win. And you and I, dear gardeners, do not always have time to cope with all the spring work. But it is necessary to weed the beds with perennial crops first and foremost.

Now the garden strawberries are already blooming. And if you don’t help her urgently, the harvest will be reduced by at least 50%. The flourishing of diseases and pests in such “paradise” of weeds, plus a powerful selection of nutrients from the garden bed - and goodbye to the harvest...

Carefully, trying not to damage the flowers and ovaries, water the beds with strawberries, carefully loosen the soil, it is better to bayonet, cut off all the old dry foliage. And immediately mulch the soil under the bushes

If you see bushes with curly foliage, this is a virus, immediately dig it up and burn it, viral diseases cannot be treated. Feed the strawberries with liquid organic fertilizers, being careful not to water the leaves, flowers and ovaries.

Now, during the period of flowering and fruit formation, it is too late to spray strawberries against pests and diseases using chemical and biological preparations. Strawberries ripen quickly, and the decomposition time of chemicals (even high-quality ones) in unprotected soil is 10–20 days, depending on weather conditions.

Therefore, we strongly advise you to spray during strawberry flowering only if absolutely necessary and use herbal infusions for this.

This is where weeds come in handy! Every gardener grows dandelions in abundance, and field thistle is also found everywhere. Take a weeded dandelion along with its roots (100 grams), chop it and add a liter of warm water. Let it brew for 3-4 hours, strain and spray.

Also pour thistle grass along with rhizomes (300–400 grams) with a liter of water and leave overnight. In the morning in dry weather, spray strawberries.

A solution of simple laundry soap (70%) is very effective against leaf-eating and sucking pests. Dissolve 20 grams of soap in a bucket of water, this amount is enough for a solution of normal consistency. And carefully, sparing no liquid, spray the leaves from above and below. The soap solution will cover the insect with a thin film - and there is no pest.

Area

Ukraine, Belarus, France, Switzerland, Belgium, England, southern Sweden, Germany, Poland, Austria, Italy, Czech Republic, Balkans, Slovakia, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey, Russia.

The northern border runs through Belarus, Chernigov, Kursk, Voronezh, Tambov and Penza regions, the eastern border - to the Caspian Sea; southern - from the mouth of the Danube along the Black Sea coast to the Dnieper estuary, the terrace of the lower Dnieper to the lower reaches of the Don and along the Azov coast - to Anapa.

Prevention

It is extremely difficult to protect yourself from marbled bugs in your summer cottage, garden or vegetable garden, but there are a number of preventive measures that will help you protect your home.

Adult stink bugs, like other pests, can enter homes through cracks and crevices. Here are some simple tips to help keep them out of your home:

Caulk windows inside and out.
Make sure that daylight in the house is not visible around the perimeter of the door.
Remove all debris and edible vegetation from your home's foundation to avoid attracting pests.
Inspect and caulk foundation cracks to block potential entry points.
When insulating exposed water pipes around your foundation, seal even the smallest gaps.
If you have a fireplace in your home, keep the lid closed to keep pests out.
Contact a pest control professional.

The marbled beetle is a voracious pest with an unusual appearance.

What does a July beetle look like?

Marble Khrushchev: description

Lifestyle

Notes

Reproduction

Population and species status

Tags:

Harm

Maliciousness

Fighting methods

Protective measures

Prevention

Imago lifestyle

Reproduction

Let's summarize

Report No. 2

Internal structure

Phylloxera

No to pests!

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Area

Prevention