In the Petrovsky district, during the survey of the winter wedge on an area of 6.5 thousand hectares for the presence of pests, a colonization of 0.5 thousand hectares of plants with Hessian fly puparia was found.
Hessian flies are small mosquitoes 2.5-3.5 mm long, dark gray or reddish-brown in color. The abdomen of the female is pointed, with reddish-brown spots. The egg is elongated-oval up to 0.5 mm, reddish-brown. The larva is worm-shaped, legless, up to 4 mm long, with a fusiform body of white color. Pupa hidden, in puparia, chestnut-brown.
The larvae that have completed their development hibernate in puparia, similar to flaxseed, on the shoots of winter crops, carrion, cereal weeds, usually behind the leaf sheath, and also on the stubble. In spring they pupate. After 10-12 days, in April-May, adult insects fly out. Imagoes do not feed, they mate immediately after departure, live 5-7 days.
The main damage to grain crops is caused by larvae of the 1st and 2nd generations, which inhabit plants from germination to heading. In damaged plants, the mass of grain decreases, as a result of lodging, large losses occur during harvesting.
Under more favorable humid conditions, 3- and 4-year-old generations develop, the larvae of which feed on lateral shoots and undergrowth. The last autumn generation of the Hessian fly populates winter seedlings. During the year develops from 2 to 5 generations.
Currently, the pest is under the constant supervision of specialists from the regional Rosselkhoztsentr.
The full version on the Puparia website of a dangerous pest of cereal crops was found in the Stavropol Territory
