Wireworm

What does a wireworm look like?

The wireworm is the larvae of the click beetle. Many summer residents also saw these beetles – they are about 1 cm long, brown. Often found in the garden, sometimes climb into garden houses. But not everyone knows that they are the main suppliers of pest larvae.

In nature, there are more than 10 species of click beetles, many of them live in the tropics, but there are several genera that actively harm plants in temperate latitudes. They are divided into 000 groups.

Cereal nutcrackers. These include species of the genus Agriotes. They feed mainly on the roots of perennial grasses – these wireworms can be found, for example, in the roots of wheatgrass. Sometimes they can damage the roots of legumes and cruciferous plants, sometimes they gnaw seedlings, but very rarely.

Omnivorous nutcrackers. This includes representatives of the genera Seletosomus, Melanotus and some others. The larvae of these beetles bypass the roots of cereals. Their favorite food is tubers (potatoes, dahlias) and root vegetables. And they also eat up the sown seeds (gardeners who have not sprouted seeds often complain about their poor quality, but wireworms can be the cause of failure). And these harmful larvae can spoil the seedlings of vegetable crops – they penetrate into the stems and gnaw them even above the soil level, damaging gourds, vegetables and tobacco (1).

The wireworms got their name due to the structure – their body is very rigid, like a wire. The color of the larvae can be from light yellow to dark brown.

Female click beetles lay their eggs from May to July. Larvae grow very slowly, only by the end of 2-3 years of life they reach a length of 15-17 mm (2). They usually pupate in 3-4 years of life, but it happens that even earlier – in the second year or, conversely, later – in the fifth.

Interesting facts about the wireworm

What is dangerous wireworm

Wireworms cause great damage to future crops and flower beds. They can eat the sown seeds. Gnawing the roots of the planted seedlings, after which it will die. Especially wireworms love juicy tubers, root crops and bulbs, in which they make numerous moves. And damaged tubers and root crops are then poorly stored. Yes, and cleaning them is problematic – you have to cut out all the wormholes.

But there is another problem – pathogen spores very quickly get into the moves made by wireworms. And the plants begin to get sick, which is why the yield of vegetables and the decorativeness of flowers are further reduced.

Signs of the appearance of a wireworm

In cases where the wireworm has eaten up the roots completely, the plants begin to wither. If you pull them by the stem, they are very easily removed from the soil.

With a small lesion, the plants noticeably lag behind their counterparts in growth.

Also, the presence of a wireworm in the soil is indicated by the abundance of click beetles on the site.

Reasons for the appearance of a wireworm

The wireworm appears most often on cultivated soils. Here we get a very unpleasant pattern – the better you take care of your plants, the more likely they are to be gnawed by larvae.

The most actively harms the wireworm in moist soil. In dry soil, pests can die, but this usually does not happen – in drought, the larvae go into the deeper layers of the soil.

And the wireworm is more common on heavy clay soils.

How to get rid of the wireworm in the garden

There are several ways to deal with wireworms and it is best to use them in combination.

Folk methods

Lures. Wireworms are more likely to eat juicy tubers and root crops, so in the aisle with vegetables and flowers during the season, you can periodically bury potato tubers at a distance of 10 cm from each other (2) – the nutcracker larvae will prefer to climb there rather than gnaw less juicy thin roots of other plants. And it is better to bury the first potatoes a week before sowing seeds or planting seedlings.

Baits with larvae after 3-4 days should be dug up and burned. And dig in new ones. This will help reduce the number of pests. And in order not to forget where the tubers were buried, mark these places with twigs.

Watering plants with potassium permanganate. Periodically, plants can be watered under the root with a solution of potassium permanganate – 5 g (1/3 teaspoon) per 10 liters of water.

Preparations

Commander Recommended for the fight against many pests, including wireworms. It is a liquid concentrate, which is recommended to treat large seeds before sowing, such as corn, sunflower, gourds. The wireworm will not touch the pickled seeds.

Provotox. This drug is available in the form of granules – they are embedded in holes or grooves when sowing seeds of root crops. Consumption rate – 40 g per 10 square meters. m.

Taboo. This is a liquid suspension that can be shed on the beards before sowing the seeds. To do this, 4 ml of the drug is diluted in 10 liters of water. Consumption rate – 10 liters per hundred square meters.

How to get rid of wireworm on potatoes

Her wireworm strikes most often – he really likes juicy tubers. Therefore, it is on potato fields that the fight against this pest is carried out most actively.

Folk methods

The all-rounder. If potatoes are planted in the same place from year to year, and many do just that, there will be a lot of wireworms. Therefore, it is important to observe crop rotation – potatoes can be planted in their original place no earlier than after 4 years. And it is better if legumes grow here in the previous year – peas, beans, beans.

Lures. It is pointless to lay them out during the season, as in beds with other vegetables – the wireworm already has something to profit from. But digging tubers a week or two before planting potatoes is an excellent solution. Hungry larvae will penetrate the bait and can be destroyed.

Preparations

Barguzin. The drug is in the form of granules – they are introduced into the soil when planting potatoes. Consumption rate 15 g per 10 sq. m.

Zemlin. A special remedy for wireworm in the form of granules. They are mixed with sand or sawdust and introduced into the soil when tubers are planted. Consumption rate – 30 g per 10 square meters. m.

Prestige. This is a liquid agent that is used to treat potato tubers before planting. It is diluted at the rate of 70 – 100 ml per 1 liter of water. The flow rate of the working fluid is 1 liter per 100 kg.

In addition, the same preparations can be used to combat wireworms on potatoes as for other vegetables.

How to get rid of a wireworm in a greenhouse

A greenhouse is not the best place for the development of a wireworm, however, it can also appear there if, for example, it is brought in with infected planting material or soil.

Folk methods

You can fight the wireworm in the greenhouse in the same way as in the garden. And in the fall, after harvesting, it is better to change the land to a new one. And before planting, carefully inspect the tubers and bulbs so as not to bring the pest again.

Preparations

To combat the wireworm in the greenhouse, the same drugs that are used in the open field are suitable.

Prevention from wireworm infection

Weed weeding. The more food for the wireworm, the more actively click beetles breed. And since their larvae are omnivores, weeds are an excellent food base for them. And the less harmful plants there are in the garden, the less wireworm.

Row spacing. If you periodically loosen the landings to a depth of 10 – 12 cm, the wireworm will be significantly smaller. Firstly, the eggs laid by the females will die – once on the surface of the soil, they will simply dry out. Secondly, the larvae that will be on the surface of the earth can be collected by hand, and those that you do not notice will be pecked by birds. It is desirable to loosen the beds after each watering and rain – in moist soil, the wireworm rises close to the soil surface.

Digging the soil in autumn. If you dig the soil in the first half of September on a spade bayonet and leave clods of earth, larvae, pupae and beetles that have settled down for the winter in the soil will end up in clods and die in winter.

Popular questions and answers

We talked about the fight against the wireworm with agronomist-breeder Svetlana Mikhailova.

Sources of

1. Vasiliev V.P. Pests of crops and forest plantations. In 3 volumes / Under the general. ed. Vasilyeva V.P. (2nd ed., Rev. and add.) Vol. 1. Harmful nematodes, mollusks, arthropods / Ed. Volumes Dolin V.G. // K .: Harvest, 1987 – 440 p.
2. Zhemchuzhina A.A., Stenina N.P., Tarasova V.P. Protection of plants in personal plots. Reference book // L .: Kolos, Leningrad branch, 1982 – 264 p.