The non-disgusting, cute cockchafer can be heard from afar by making a loud buzzing sound in the canopy of trees or near glowing street lamps. Its interesting appearance thanks to its beautiful and slightly funny antennae brushes attracts the attention of children and adults. But if we are talking about his activities, then all the positive emotions from meeting him immediately disappear. The harm and benefits of the cockchafer become subjects of debate between naturalists and gardeners.
What does the cockchafer and its larvae look like?
The length does not exceed 3 cm, the body is elongated. Elytrae of the insect pest are usually brown in color. There are many short villi along the entire length of the body. Sexual dimorphism of pests is represented in the formation on the antennae. The wings are poorly developed, however, it flies quite well. When flying it makes a loud noise. The movement speed is quite high for its size.
Harm to fruit crops is caused not only by mature individuals, but also by undergrown plants. A typical popular name for underdeveloped insects that have not undergone morphological changes is Khrushchev. They are similar in appearance to a regular caterpillar, with 3 pairs of legs on the front of the body. Khrushchev is characterized by the following features:
- The head is red, small in size, round in shape. It has quite powerful jaws, thanks to the properties of which the beetle eats up root crops;
- the back of the body is dark, often brown. This property is ensured by large deposition of feces in the intestines.
External structure
The May Khrushchev is easy to recognize due to its large size (3–4 cm) and characteristic sound when flying.
Looking at a photo or drawing in a textbook, it becomes clear that its body is oval in shape and covered with small hair scales. The hair on the abdomen and head is longer.
The chitinous shell serves as reliable protection from external influences. In some individuals, the hair is so thick that it hides the real color of the body.
The insect's head has antennae: in females they consist of 6 plates, in males there are 7 such plates.
The beetle's eyes have a facet structure, each eye consisting of several thousand small eyes.
Due to the structural features of the body, the insect cannot turn its head in different directions, but its eyes have a fairly wide angle of vision. The type of mouthparts of the pest is gnawing.
The chest is divided into three sections, each of which has a pair of legs, the insect has a total of six of them. The wings of the Khrushchev are located on the back and middle parts. There are rigid elytra that perform protective functions.
The color of an insect depends on its membership in a particular species. In Russia, two types are most often found: western and eastern.
The first belongs to the thermophilic species and lives mainly in the forest and forest-steppe zones of the European part of the continent. It can be recognized by its black head and pronotum of the same color. His wings are light brown and reddish.
Western beetles eat only green leaves and fruit crops; they do not touch coniferous trees.
The oriental beetle is able to withstand low temperatures, so it can be found in the Urals and Siberia. Its color is much lighter than that of its western counterparts.
The favorite delicacy of the eastern beetle is tender young needles, but the insect does not disdain leafy crops.
Where does the cockchafer live?
There are 2 subspecies living in Russia and the CIS:
- west;
- Oriental.
They differ in shape, belly color, and mustache pattern. The usual habitat of western cockchafers is meadows and clearings, surrounded by plantings exclusively in the warm season. The properties of the digestive apparatus of the eastern subspecies provide a preference for living exclusively under the crowns of deciduous trees.
They prefer to settle in forests and wooded steppes, and thrive in plantations of young fruit trees. There is little benefit to plants from such a neighborhood. They can also live among coniferous flora. The love for spruce trees arose due to the fact that they do not grow well on hard soil. And the property of parasites is such that it is much easier for them to live inside soft soils than clay soils.
The larvae live underground. The main diet is the root systems of plants that are located next to the burrows. The period of development to adulthood is quite complex, taking from 3 to 5 years, depending on the ambient temperature. In warmer regions, beetles are characterized by rapid development. Before metamorphosis, there is a process of transition to the state of a pupa, which reaches maturity after a few months.
The typical time of appearance of the parasite is early spring; its lifespan does not exceed several months. During this time, they manage to mate, create a clutch of eggs and die.
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These insects winter in northern Africa or the Middle East. Eggs are laid there, after which the annual life flight of the butterflies ends.
The eggs hatch into a caterpillar, which then turns into a pupa. It is from this that a new butterfly grows in the spring.
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In northern Europe, new generations of sunflowers also hatch and migrate. In addition to the burdock, seasonal migration calls for another species of sorrel grass, which is found in Ukraine. This is the admiral honeycomb (Vanessa atalanta), whose color is more black.
What are the benefits of the cockchafer?
The benefit of the cockchafer in nature is the large amount of crude protein that includes the body of the insect. Thus, it is an excellent food for birds, lizards, reptiles and hedgehogs. In addition, chafer larvae have proven themselves to be excellent fish bait. The benefit is also to attract attention. Children and pets are attracted to adult beetles, so they often try to catch them. But the cockchafer larva does more harm than good.
Also in folk medicine, there are recipes that use the body of the parasite as one of the ingredients in decoctions or infusions. According to traditional methods, the remedies help against suppuration, tuberculosis, radiculitis and other diseases.
What harm does the cockchafer cause?
The insect is extremely gluttonous. Therefore, within 1.5-2 months, while the pest is active, it can gnaw away shrubs or young trees on the site. The main diet consists of young leaves and buds. A much greater danger is the larvae’s habit of eating up plant rhizomes. Roots thoroughly damaged by young individuals lead to the death of the plant. Therefore, the harm from the cockchafer exceeds the benefit.
What crops does the cockchafer feed on?
Typical diet of adults:
- fruit trees, especially cherries, plums, apples, pears;
- bush plants - currants, gooseberries;
- decorative - birch, poplar, linden.
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Larvae are much less selective in terms of food, so the harm from them is higher. Crops affected by Khrushchev:
- vegetables – nightshade, cereals, seedlings;
- berry crops – strawberries;
- root systems of trees - birch, spruce, pine, and cedar trees are especially susceptible to the larvae’s ability to eat up roots;
- lawn and cereal weeds.
Lacewing.
- They eat the leaves of almost all deciduous trees and shrubs (oak, birch, poplar, maple, willow, and fruit trees - pear, apple, plum), and do not even refuse pine and larch.
- In everything good there is bad and in everything bad there is good. The main thing is to present it properly. !
- they have a lot of protein, tear off the wings before frying and enjoy your meal!
- Life underground
- Chafer beetles are one of the first heralds of spring. As soon as the sun warms the ground in the fields and meadows, the beetle crawls out of it after winter sleep and, spreading its wings, sets off in flight. The purpose of its flight is to search for food, because during hibernation the beetle does not feed on anything.
- Small hairs or hair-like scales grow throughout the body. Their length varies depending on the parts of the body. For example, the hairs on the chest are yellow, long and dense. And on the abdomen there are hairs, both short and long, growing sparsely.
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To the beginning
How to get rid of cockchafer larvae
If adult cockchafers begin to appear in the garden, you need to immediately start catching them, before the breeding season and egg laying begins. If they laid eggs, then it is imperative to deal with immature pests. The benefits of the cheerfully buzzing cockchafers clearly will not compensate for the subsequent harm.
Immature cockchafers live quite deep in the upper layers of the soil. The difference between underdeveloped individuals is that they live at a depth of up to 40 cm. Without dense digging, it is extremely difficult to find them on the site. To activate, a high average daily temperature is needed.
A characteristic sign of the appearance of a pest on a site is the gradual death of plants. Crops will dry out, wither, and leaves may turn yellow.
Folk remedies for fighting the cockchafer:
- The most reliable way to combat it is to deep dig up the garden in the fall. The thin skin of the young animals is not able to withstand the winter cold, so they quickly die.
- Planting white clover in the area helps a lot. The ability of bacteria living on the root system to release huge amounts of nitrogen harms the respiratory system of the larvae.
- You can try planting lupine flowers or turnips on the plot. The smell repels cockchafers, so they will not reproduce in the area.
- Before planting in the spring, you need to pour powder from ground eggshells deep into the ground. Small grains clog the respiratory system of insects, leading to death.
Advice! This method is also used against mole crickets and many other pests. Mixing ground shells with vegetable oil is also beneficial. The mass will be more sticky.
Living spring medicine
May beetles do not reproduce as quickly as Colorado beetles, but they can also cause damage to forest plantations.
May beetles with great appetite eat leaves, buds and ovaries of trees, which causes photosynthesis to decrease, the plant to weaken and may even die.
The larvae of the cockchafer feed on the roots of trees and shrubs, which can also cause them irreparable harm with serious consequences. In addition, even through slightly damaged roots, pathogenic microbes can penetrate into the tree.
However, there are some benefits from cockchafers. True, official medicine does not use them, but village healers learned to make infusions, tinctures and other drugs from them much earlier than from Colorado beetles.
No one has studied the chemical composition and healing properties of cockchafers, but if you consider that they feed on fresh, green leaves, flowers and shoots of trees and shrubs, we can conclude that their tissues accumulate many useful and unique substances, which are used in traditional medicine .
To prepare infusions, tinctures and other potions, beetles are collected manually - for this, a blanket or sheet is spread under the tree, and the beetles are shaken off the branches. Next, the raw materials are used for their own purposes.
Since cockchafers are collected only during active flight - 1-2 months a year, the raw materials can be prepared for future use - dried in the oven at a temperature of 50-60 degrees and ground in a coffee grinder.
Recipe 1.
Folk remedy for radiculitis from the cockchafer. Collect and dry the cockchafers, replace the dough with rye flour and add beetle powder. You will need a little dough - for 1 flatbread.
The cake will need to be applied to the sore spot on the back, covered with cellophane and a warm cloth. After 40 minutes, remove the cake. Heat the vegetable oil in a steam bath in advance.
When you remove the cake, you will see that many small blisters have formed underneath. Pierce them with a needle or pin, remembering to soak the “tool” in oil before each puncture. The following procedure can be done after the code at the site of the blisters has dried and healed. Sometimes 1-2 such procedures are enough to cure radiculitis.
Recipe 2.
May beetle against pulmonary tuberculosis. To prepare the medicine, you need to collect the beetles early in the morning, before sunrise; you will need 1 glass of them. You need to crush the beetles with your hands or a wooden masher, and then add 1 cup of rye flour to the pulp and make a flat cake. The cake needs to be placed on the right side of the back and tied with a scarf or handkerchief so that it does not fall off - this procedure is done all night.
In the morning, remove the cake - under it there should be a large blister with a lot of pus. There is no need to pierce it - the pus will drain out on its own. To cure pulmonary tuberculosis, 1 procedure is enough.
Recipe 3.
Alcohol tincture of chafers for uterine cancer. Take 24 cockchafers, dry them in the shade, crush them, put them in a glass jar and pour 500 ml of vodka. Leave in the sun for 7 days, then strain.
You need to drink 1 tbsp of tincture. in the morning on an empty stomach. At the same time as taking the tincture, you need to douche with a decoction of celandine.
Recipe 4.
Alcohol tincture of cockchafers for rheumatism. Collect ½ half-liter jar of Maybugs, fill with vodka to the brim. Place the jar in a dark place for 10 days. Then strain and use for rubbing.
With a tincture of beetles, you can treat abscesses, boils, fistulas, corns, old wounds, irritations and rashes on the skin, and ulcers.
Recipe 5.
Wounds from dog bites, including rabid ones, should be sprinkled with dried, crushed chafer powder. At the same time, you need to drink a decoction of yarrow. A person bitten by a rabid dog was given powder from 1 dried May beetle, which must be washed down with bread kvass.
Recipe 6.
Honey infused with chafers is used to heal wounds, burns and ulcers.
Video addition:
Methods for controlling adult May beetles
The cockchafer is a dangerous pest in the garden. Therefore, combating it is mandatory to preserve the harvest. It is best to catch insects using different traps. You can catch the cockchafer using the following methods:
- hand catching;
- light trap;
- glue trap.
Light trap
To prepare a light trap:
- You need to prepare a small container and coat its inner surface with a sticky substance.
- Attach a light source to the bottom of the container. A flashlight or a standard electric lamp will do. Next, wait until nightfall.
- At night, set up an improvised trap in an open area. Thus, the unwanted guest flies into the light, getting inside the sticky liquid. In addition, there are other types of insects that cause harm.
Glue trap
To prepare a glue trap, you need to purchase a sticky substance for flies at any store, then apply it to paper or newspapers. This liquid attracts cockchafers, which stick to the paper.
Natural enemies
Hedgehogs feed on cockchafers of all ages. Therefore, when a swarm of insects appears, you need to try to provide the prickly helpers with decent living conditions on the site. Then they will independently and quite effectively fight the pest.
The presence of starlings and crows in the area also helps. Winged helpers can find them even underground and successfully dig them out from there. Therefore, installing birdhouses is a good control method.
Important! Also natural enemies are field mice and rats. Animals living in burrows often encounter individuals of the cockchafer, eating them.
Medicines for cockchafers
To combat chafers, you can use chemicals - insecticides of general and targeted action. The following products work well:
- "Zemlin";
- "Bazudin";
- "Initiative".
In most cases, these are drugs whose active ingredient is diazinon or thiamethoxam. When working with such drugs, you must follow safety precautions: wear a respirator, goggles and gloves. In addition, pesticides can harm vegetation.
Biological preparations against the cockchafer are represented by bioinsecticides. The fight takes place in the ground with the larvae. The drug consists of many larvae of microscopic roundworms. When it enters the soil, the parasite penetrates the body of the larva, beginning to devour it from the inside. Such a roundworm kills the cockchafer extremely quickly. The product is practically harmless to people, animals and beneficial insects.
