Medvedka what it looks like and how to fight. Medvedka: photo and description of how to deal with insects on the site. Where the bear lives

Medvedka (aka cabbage, mole cricket) is an arthropod insect that belongs to the order Orthoptera, suborder long-wattled, cricket superfamily, bear family (Gryllotalpidae), subfamily Gryllotalpinae.

Where did the name "Medvedka" come from?

Medvedki got their name for their large size, brownish-brown color, massive clawed forepaws and pubescent body, which makes it possible to compare this insect with a bear. There are several popular names for these insects: cabbage, mole cricket or cricket mole, crayfish, spinning top.

The animal is called Kapustyanka for its love for young cabbage seedlings. The Latin name for a bear from the genus Gryllotalpa sounds translated as "mole cricket". This is confirmed by the similarity with a cricket in body structure and in the ability to make sounds. The bear looks like a mole with extended brushes of its front paws and the ability to burrow into the ground. The front part of the insect resembles a crayfish: the structure of the head, shell, whiskers and paws, somewhat similar to claws. The bear is called a spinning top because of the sharp claws on the front paws, reminiscent of the teeth of a wolf.

Medvedka - description and photo. What does a bear look like?

Bears are large insects. The length of their body varies from 3.5 to 5 cm, and the thickness reaches 1.2-1.5 cm. From above, the body of the cabbage is painted in a silky brownish-brown color, from below it is brownish-yellow. The body of the insect is covered with the smallest hairs.

The head of the bear in relation to the body has a prognathic, or straight, location. Its axis coincides with the axis of the body, and the mouth organs, which are powerful jaws, are directed forward.

There are 2 pairs of tentacles near the jaws.

The large, well-visible eyes of the bear have a faceted structure and are located on the sides of the head.

On the head of the insect, filiform antennae grow slightly behind the pronotum. They are shorter than the whiskers of other crickets.

The large and flat pronotum of the bear with lateral parts (lobes) hanging downward is a distinctive feature of the insect. The middle and metathorax of the insect are connected. The head and front of the animal's body are covered with a dense chitinous shell - a device for pushing and compacting the earth when digging holes. Because of this, the shell of the bear resembles cancer.

The abdomen of the cabbage is thick, reaching 1 cm in diameter, and consists of 10 tergites and 8-9 sternites. The apex of the abdomen has anal and genital plates. Females have no ovipositor. The last segment of the abdomen has long, flexible cerci covered with small hairs, or caudal appendages, resembling antennae in appearance.

The bear has 2 pairs of wings:

• The anterior ones are transformed into short and leathery elytra covered with thick veins. In length, they reach only the middle of the abdomen. The left elytra in insects from the superfamily of crickets is always covered by the right.
• The hind pair is long, wide, transparent, membranous wings with fine venation. In a calm state, they fold in a fan-like manner under the elytra and are extended along the abdomen in the form of bundles. During the flight of the insect, the hind wings are actively involved, while the elytra are involved to a limited extent.

Males differ from females in elytra venation. There are wingless individuals of both sexes, but they are less common. By the way, the larvae have no wings.

The bear has 3 pairs of limbs, each of which consists of a coxa, trochanter, thigh, lower leg and a 3-segmented tarsus.

By the way, the hearing aid (or the organ of hearing) of the bear, like many other chirping orthoptera insects (grasshoppers, crickets), is located on the legs of the forelimbs and has an oval or narrow-slit shape.

The hind legs of the insect are strong and intended for movement; there are 1-4 spines on their inner side. The claw-like forelimbs are a burrowing apparatus. The thigh and lower leg are greatly widened, and the tarsus is shortened. On the lower leg there are 4, and on the foot there are 2 black spikes, with which the bear cuts into the ground.

There are auditory openings on the front legs of the bear. They have an oval or narrow slit shape.

What sounds does a bear make?

With the help of friction of the rigid front elytra against each other, the bear makes sounds that can be heard at a distance of more than half a kilometer. Stridulation, or trill, promotes communication between insects. By the way, the stridulation apparatus of representatives of the superfamily of crickets and in grasshoppers differ:

• In crickets, the bow vein is located on the right elytron, and the vein against which the bow rubs is located on the left.
• The stridulation apparatus of grasshoppers occupies a smaller area on the elytra and is less developed.

Basically, male bears sing, but females are also capable of chirping. Medvedka can make sounds both during the day and at night, being both on the surface of the earth and underground. Calling night trills of males sound loud, their sound is sharp and low. When moving along underground passages, insects emit a shorter and more muffled chirping. By the way, the sound power of the bear is 1.4 mW. For comparison: in a cricket, this figure reaches 0.06 mW.

What does the bear eat?

Medvedka is the most common pest of vegetables, fruits, melons, berries, and horticultural crops. These insects damage roots, tubers, root collar, seeds, underground parts of plants, and sometimes even eat up seedlings and young plants. Bears ruin potatoes, beets (table, sugar and fodder), cabbage, tomatoes, carrots, onions, beans, cucumbers, eggplants, peppers, turnips, rutabagas, radishes, pumpkin, watermelons, melons, sweet potatoes, grapes, poppy seeds, hemp, sunflowers , hops, tobacco, flax, strawberries, strawberries, various shrubs, parsley and other umbrella plants. Bears damage crops of wheat, rye, oats, barley, corn, rice, millet, soybeans, chumiza, paiza, and kaolyan. In the southern regions, they destroy more exotic plants: citrus fruits (oranges, tangerines, lemons), tea, cotton, peanuts, cotton. In nurseries and young orchards, trees such as apple, pear, plum, cherry, sweet cherry, apricot, and peach can suffer from the bear.

In forests, the insect damages the roots of young oaks, beeches, pines, poplars, firs and other trees. In addition to plant food, bears eat earthworms, May beetle larvae, ladybugs, dragonflies and other insects.

Where does the bear live?

Medvedki are widespread almost everywhere in Europe (except Norway and Finland), in Central and Southeast Asia, in the Caucasus, on the islands of Japan, the Philippine Islands, in India, Vietnam, China, Indonesia. Also, these insects live in North Africa, Australia, North and South America. In Russia, the bear is found everywhere - from the European part to the Far East, except for the northern regions of the country.

The habitat of the bear is wet places, meadows, floodplains of rivers and other bodies of water. Insects live mainly in underground passages. They dig in the fertilized, well-warmed, humus soil of vegetable gardens and melons, often found near irrigation canals, in swampy areas. They love places with a high groundwater table.

The lifestyle of a bear (cabbage)

Basically, bears lead a hidden lifestyle. All day they are underground, making holes in the surface layer of the soil and eating plants along the way. They come to the surface only at night. The presence of a bear on the site can only be determined by winding, loosened rollers of the earth, holes in the soil and completely healthy-looking plants that suddenly begin to die.

This is how the moves of the bear look on the surface of the earth. Photo by: Pochtareva Natalia Mikhailovna

At night, the bears crawl out of their burrows to the surface and move to other areas in search of food. Sometimes they fly long distances. They are often attracted to bright light. During breeding, female bears fly to the sounds made by males for mating.

Medvedka quickly buries itself in the ground and moves, flies and swims beautifully, overcoming even significant water obstacles. The insect adapted to swimming due to the fact that the floodplains, the favorite places of residence of the bear, are flooded with water during the spring flood.

Reproduction of a bear

Bears begin to breed in the spring, after a massive exit from wintering. Fertilization in them is spermatophore, like in other representatives of Orthoptera. Mating takes place underground. The offspring appears in the summer.

For their offspring, insects prepare a dwelling: they dig complex, densely branched labyrinths around the roots of plants and at a shallow depth (5-10 cm from the surface) arrange spherical nests about 10 cm in diameter. Individuals of both sexes take part in this process. Inside the ball is a nesting chamber the size of a hen's egg, the walls of which are well sealed. There the female bear lays from 300-350 to 600 eggs. This is a very important period for the survival of insects, because the offspring that are underground is completely dependent on temperature and humidity. The female does not leave the nest, protecting it, maintaining ventilation and temperature. To do this, she clears the passages from the ground, eats up the roots of plants that cast a shadow on the nesting site. The eggs of the bear are similar to millet grains: oval, yellowish-gray, 2 mm in size.

After 10-20 days, depending on the soil temperature, gray, six-legged, wingless larvae (nymphs) emerge from the eggs, which live in the nest under the protection of the female for 20-30 days. At the end of this period of time, the female begins to freeze and after a while dies. After that, the larvae of the bear crawl away, dig separate burrows and begin to feed.

The development of larvae takes a long time, with incomplete transformation. This period differs in different regions. In the south, they develop within 1-2 years, in the north, 2-2.5 years. The bear larva looks like an adult, but with smaller size, underdeveloped wings and genitals. In the early stages of development, they are very mobile, nimble and jump well, like grasshoppers. During the period of development from larva to adult sexually mature individuals, bears molt 8-9 times.

Where and how does the bear winter?

Larvae of bear cubs of 2-6 instars (meaning 2-6 molts) and adults hibernate in soil, humus or manure. They burrow into the ground much deeper than in summer. Larvae deepen by 25 cm, adults - by 60, and sometimes 100-120 cm. They make winter depressions at an angle of 45 to 60 degrees. After wintering, the bears come to the surface when the soil temperature reaches 12-15 degrees.

Types of bear, photos and names

Medvedki hardly differ among themselves in appearance and lifestyle. Some can only be distinguished from each other by the number of chromosomes.

According to the latest research and information presented on the website orthoptera.speciesfile.org, the Far Eastern bear (Latin Gryllotalpa fossor) is synonymous with the African bear (Latin Gryllotalpa africana).

Below is a description of several varieties of bears.

• Common bear (lat.Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa)

Widespread species. The body size of the insect reaches 3.5-5 cm, the length of the pronotum is 1.2-1.6 cm, the elytra is 1.3-2.1 cm, the hind femur is 1-1.3 cm. a lighter, brownish-yellow abdomen covered with dense fine hairs. The head and back are almost black. The abdomen is yellowish or olive.

Widely distributed in Europe, except for the Scandinavian countries. Also, the common bear lives in Russia, North Africa and some regions of Asia: in the Caucasus, Asia Minor and Western Asia, in the Middle East, Iran, Kazakhstan.

• African bear (eastern bear) (lat.Gryllotalpa africana)

It is smaller than the common bear: the body is 2.0-3.5 cm, the length of the pronotum is 0.6-0.9 cm, the length of the elytra is 0.8-1.2 cm. The color is brownish yellow above and yellow below.

African bears live in Central, South and Southeast Asia, the Japanese and Philippine Islands, Ceylon and Madagascar, Korea, the Russian Far East, Australia, New Zealand, and the tropics and subtropics of Africa.

• Ten-fingered bear(lat.Neocurtilla hexadactyla)

A variety that is small in size: from 1.9 to 3.3 cm in length. Initially, these bears inhabited North and Central America, and from there they settled in South America.

• (lat.Gryllotalpastepposa)

The morphological twin of the common bear, that is, it is absolutely similar to it in appearance. The length of the insect reaches 4-5.4 cm. The body color is brown-yellow.

The habitat of the bear is Moldova, the south of Ukraine, the southern region of Russia and the south of Turkmenistan.

The length of the insect's body varies from 3.8 to 4.4 cm, the length of the oval pronotum is 1.1-1.3 cm, the elytra is 1.5-1.7 cm.The structure of the body, lifestyle, nutrition and reproduction of this insect are characteristic for the whole family, as well as a brownish-yellow color.

It is a halophile, that is, it is found on saline soils along the shores of seas and lakes, as well as on wet salt marshes. Single-spiked bears live in the south of Moldova and Ukraine, in the Lower Volga region of Russia and the Rostov region, in the Crimea, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Iran, Afghanistan and China. Its habitat can vary depending on the distribution of salt marshes and salt licks.

Medvedka as bait for fish

Medvedka has long been known as an excellent bait for catching large fish. The insects must be alive. To do this, they are kept in a container with earth and with air access, preferably one at a time, feeding if necessary. Experienced anglers disagree on how to put a bear on a hook - starting from the head, through the chest and abdomen, or stringing 2-3 bears, piercing them through the chest. To make the bait more attractive and give off the proper flavor, the belly is cut into it. It is believed that catfish, chub, barbel, asp bite well on the bear.

Natural enemies of the bear

For a long time, humans have been fighting this pest insect using various methods. To get rid of the bear in the garden forever, it is better to use several methods at once.

Chemical preparations for the bear

Bear bait can be made from steamed grains of corn, rye, wheat, oats, barley or bran, adding a little sunflower oil to them. The finished bait is etched, that is, poison is added to it. Once upon a time, such potent and currently banned poisons such as zinc phosphide and dust (DDT) were added to it. Now various modern drugs are used, made specifically for the destruction of bears: for example, Medvetox. Modern chemical remedies for bears are harmless to soil, plants, earthworms: they only kill pests. Pickled grains can be purchased ready-made in stores. Such purchased or homemade bear baits are applied to the soil in early spring, usually a week before sowing crops. In small backyard or summer cottages, the bait is buried 2-3 cm in the ground, and in large areas it is scattered using seeders.

Sometimes pickled corn or oat seeds are planted, using this crop as bait to kill insects before planting the main seedlings.

You can fight the bear in the garden by soaking the roots and tubers of plants for a while in modern insecticides. Pests die by eating parts of the plant impregnated with the drug.

During the period of plant growth, the soil is watered with special organophosphorus compounds, which are absorbed by plant roots and are effective against insects with a gnawing mouth apparatus.

Agrotechnical measures

Regular agrotechnical measures also help to remove the bear from the site. Such activities mean deep spring and autumn plowing, periodic loosening of the soil, the construction of trapping grooves around greenhouses and greenhouses.

Biological remedies for the bear

You can fight the bear in the garden with the help of pesticides made on the basis of insects, which are the natural enemies of the bear.

Destruction of the bear by mechanical means

To catch a bear in the garden, you can:

• arrange insect traps in the form of pits filled with semi-mature manure. Pits 0.5 m deep are dug in the fall. Attracted by warm manure, bears gather in it for the winter. With the onset of cold weather, manure is taken out and scattered, as a result of which the insects die from the cold. This method will not work in southern regions where there is no frost.
• digging bear nests and destroying them.
• in places where the bear congregates, dig a jar, jug or bottle into the ground. Pour beer there as bait or coat the inside with honey. Having climbed into such a container, the bears will not be able to get out. Thus, you just need to get the pests and destroy them.
• in the areas where the bear's passages were found, lay out pieces of roofing material, plywood, old linoleum. The soil under them must be moistened. After a while, bears begin to gather under such a trap. It must be quickly picked up and caught scattering insects.
• install light traps for the bear. To do this, you need to place garden lights on the site, and under them place containers filled with water and kerosene. Bears fly into the light, hit the lantern and the liquid falls.
• in the holes made by insects, pour water and sunflower oil. Water pushes garden pests to the surface, and oil prevents them from breathing. Sometimes a solution of kerosene or washing powder is used for the same purpose, but it is better not to use these liquids, because they harm the planted plants.

The entrance to the bear's mink. Taken from the site: parkerbiolabs.com

Fighting the bear with folk remedies

There are many folk remedies to scare away the bear:

• using kerosene:
  • pull a clothesline soaked in kerosene on the ground around the site;
  • pour sand mixed with kerosene into the groove dug along the perimeter of the site;
  • bury rags soaked in kerosene in places where insects accumulate.
• with the help of various odors emitted by plants, substances, products that the bear does not like. Leaves or cloves of garlic, mint, rotten fish, onion husks, wormwood, drip iodine can be placed on the garden bed and under the ground. All of these can be put separately or together.
• water the soil with diluted bird droppings, including chicken.
• plant plants intolerable to the bear: garlic, perennial cloves, chrysanthemums, marigolds.
• place crushed eggshells, ash in the hole with the plant being planted.
• wrap the roots of the seedlings with a cloth or place the root and the underground part of the stem in a protective case made of a piece of hose, plastic, etc.

Precautions when dealing with a bear in the garden

When using the means to combat the bear in the garden, you should remember about caution.

Together with the garden bear or instead of it, children, animals and plants should not be harmed. Care should be taken to ensure that chemicals and poisonous baits do not fall into the hands of children and are not tried by pets.

Poisoned bears should be removed immediately so that they are not gnawed by birds and eaten by animals. Kapustyanka is an unpleasant-looking creature, not everyone will be able to pick it up. It is better to take an insect by the back, although the bear is not able to bite and injure a person strongly - she does not have so strong muscles and jaws. The most she can do is to scratch the skin with sharp claws.

• Dried bear has long been used to prepare powder, which is used to make medicines for tuberculosis. Some believe that this powder can help in cancer treatment.
• In some countries of Southeast Asia, for example, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, bears are considered a delicacy. They are used fried, stewed, pickled, with and without all sorts of spices.
• In the wild, the bear is beneficial by destroying the larvae of May beetles and other insects that harm plants.

Medvedka, photo and description and how to deal with insects on the siteyou will learn about this from our article. She is a fairly serious pest in the garden. It is a large insect with wings and a tough shell that can kill many plants. It is also called cabbage, since the pest loves to feast on cabbage leaves.

Description and photo of the bear

A vegetable garden planted with various vegetable plants attracts bear... They eat young leaves, tubers, roots.

If you prepared the site well for planting, loosened the soil, fertilized it, then this will attract even more cabbage girls, since it will be convenient for them to dig tunnels in such land.

Reasons for the appearance

Medvedka quite picky insect, it does not eat weeds, so it will not appear on abandoned land.

Interesting! The body of the bear is covered with a hard brownish shell on top, which looks like the shell of crayfish, because of this it is also called an earthen crayfish. Because of the sounds emitted by insects and the digging of tunnels, they are called cricket moles. Plants are eaten by pests, as a rule, at night.

Characteristic features of the bear

• an adult insect cannot be crushed with your fingers, like many beetles and their larvae;
• it has a thick abdomen, its diameter is up to 1 cm;
• with the help of friction against each other of the harsh front elytra, the insect emits trills, they can be heard at a distance of up to 1.5 km;
• the body is covered with fine hairs, it is long, ends with 2 long antennae-like appendages - cerci;
• large head, powerful jaws, strong front legs that resemble pincers, and a mustache give bear frightening look;
• if the insect finds enough food, it will grow to 5-6 cm;
• insect larvae are thick, milky white, have spots on the sides;
• the larva has a repulsive appearance, it has short legs, powerful jaws, and a yellowish-brown head.

With the help of its wings, an adult flies from one place to another and looks for food. The female pest lays one hundred or more eggs in one egg-laying. An adult female makes a nest under the soil, not too deep, and lays eggs. From above, the nest is covered with a dome; it can be seen on the surface of the earth as a small elevation. This is done for heating by the sun. Then the eggs hatch larvae, they are 2-3 mm long, milky in color, they have a shell on the head, but it is not solid. Insects mature only after 1-2 years.

If the gardener did not find pests on the site in a timely manner, then he will not be able to harvest a bountiful harvest: bear are omnivorous, they reproduce in the garden and gnaw at the roots, tubers, foliage, stems.

The main signs of a bear in the garden

At first, you may not see insects on the site, but then they are found by the following signs:

• swollen soil above the nests;
• paths - furrows in the beds, which are easy to see after watering and downpours;
• open entrances - holes in the burrow;
• wilting of seedlings and sprouts;
• the death of young seedlings;
• damaged tubers.

Reference! In 24 hours, a ground beetle larva can eat up to 15 young seedlings.

Harm

The main problem is that the insect eats both roots, tubers and stems and leaves.

Medvedka eats:

• potato tubers;
• rhizomes of shrubs;
• root crops of carrots, beets;
• eggplant;
• radish;
• heads of cabbage;
• radish;
• hemp;
• tomatoes;
• pepper;
• parsley roots;
• various colors.

In addition, the insect pulls out multi-level passages in the ground, and then intensively lays eggs inside them. Emerging larvae gnaw rhizomes, root crops, destroy crops in the garden.

Watch the video! Medvedka: photo and description

Control methods

Prevention of pest attacks - proper preparation of the land for planting.

Traps

There are several types of traps you can make that have a good effect:

1. Dung traps. Insects love to be in warm, loose manure in winter. To catch bear a hole should be dug 50 cm deep, wide and long. Then manure is poured into the hole, they wait until the air temperature drops to minus. Then it is required to scatter manure over the site. Medvedki will be in hibernation and will quickly die from frost. And in the spring, many eggs will remain in the trap, it is very easy to eliminate them.
2. Beer or honey traps. Medvedki they like to get into dishes with beer or honey. How to make a trap: 10 glass cans with a volume of half a liter need to be buried in the soil up to the neck, then pour beer into them for 1/3 of each can. Or, inside each jar, smear with honey. Next, cover the cans with a wooden board, but so that a gap of 1.5 cm remains between the cans and the board, then bear will be able to crawl into the banks. Traps should be checked and collected from time to time. bear.
3. Shadow traps. The method is based on the fact that bear prefer warm places. They love to bask in the bright rays of the sun, and they also choose places where it is warmer. Therefore, place black material on the beds that are lit by the sun. Place chopped potatoes under the material. When the material heats up, the potatoes will attract bear... Then you need to lift the material and collect the crayfish.

Folk remedies

Chicken droppings... You can completely destroy kapustians with the right fertilizer. If there is a large amount of nitrogen in the soil, then bearleave this place. To do this, you can apply bird droppings. In addition, it repels pests with an unpleasant odor. A solution is made from the droppings, and the crops are constantly sprayed. To prepare the solution, pour in 1 glass of chicken manure, insist for 2-3 days in a bucket of water (10 l).

Wood ash and crushed egg shells... You can pour a handful of crushed eggshells and / or ash into each hole before planting seedlings.

Soap and powder... Pour 50 g of powder or 20 g of soap into 10 liters of water. Burrows are poured with the solution. Then either the pests will begin to crawl out of the holes, and they can be killed with a shovel, chopping them off. On either bear soap solution gets in and they die.

Watch the video! How to get rid of a bear with a detergent

Ammonia... The tool shows an excellent effect in the fight against a bear and is an excellent feeding of seedlings. Prepare a solution of 1 tbsp. spoon of 10% ammonia and 10 liters of water. Then the soil is watered at a distance of 10 cm from the stem. After the water is absorbed, it is necessary to mulch the hole, then the ammonia will act for a long time.

Watch the video! Ammonia - super - means for fighting a bear

Smells... In the country they sow seeds of chrysanthemums, calendula, marigolds. Kapustyanok frightens off the aroma of these flowers.

You can also scare off the pest by sowing parsley, peppermint, planting bushes of these crops in the corners of the site. You can also plant garlic or dig in the ground coniferous spruce branches, alder, aspen stakes that have just been cut down.

Advice! You can spray the stems and foliage with essential oils of mint, marigold, chrysanthemum. Place 20 drops of oil in 400 ml of water and apply the composition.

Obstruction from a plastic bottle... This tool is very effective and you hardly need to spend money on it. They pick up old plastic bottles. Next, you need to cut each bottle into rings, then bury them in the soil near the plants. The upper edges of the plastic ring should be 3-4 cm above the ground surface.

Vegetable oil from cabbage... Pour 0.5 teaspoons of unrefined sunflower oil into each dug hole, pour water from a hose. Medvedkam do not like water and oil, they die or try to escape, getting out of their holes, then simply kill them with a shovel.

Chemicals

Chemicals are needed if folk methods struggle did not produce the desired effect. With intensive reproduction bear it is very difficult to catch all pests, eliminate them larvae and eggs.

Therefore, pesticides and insecticides are used. If you use the funds correctly, about 60-90% will die bear, their eggs and larvae. It is necessary to put toxic granules in the passages, then the cabbage will eat them and get poisoned. Chemicals can be bought in specialty shops for the garden and dacha, in hypermarkets, household chemicals departments. Commonly used formulations:

• Thunder;
• Phenaxin Plus;
• Medvegon;
• Anti bear;
• Grizzly;
• Medvetox;
• Rembeck;
• Regent;
• Votafox;
• Parachute.

Medvetox and Anti bear are pesticides produced on the basis of insects, which are natural enemies of earth crayfish.

Application rules:

• you need to find places where they breed bear;
• then place 3-4 granules in the holes dug under the soil;
• pour the composition where the cabbage dwellers live, especially on the beds and heaps of manure;
• very important - sprinkle the granules of the chemical with soil so that birds or pets do not eat the bait instead of pests.

Important! Compositions for eliminating the bear are classified as toxic, so be sure to follow safety measures. Dispense the pellets using rubber gloves and a respirator or mask. After all the actions, wash your hands with soap, rinse your mouth, wash yourself.

You can also steam the grains of wheat, corn, bran, oats, barley, add a few tablespoons of sunflower oil to this porridge and pickle, adding, for example, Medvetox. Such bait for cabbage is introduced into the ground in early spring, as a rule, a week before sowing the seeds. If the site is small, then the baits are buried in the ground to a depth of 2-3 cm, and if it is large, then the baits are scattered with seeders.

Ultrasonic scarers

Ultrasonic repellents are a great way to protect an area. The unit emits a high frequency sound that scares away bear... The device works both day and night, constant exposure to cabbage will give a good result. As a rule, earth crayfish leaves the site after 2 weeks.

Well-known brands:

• Grad;
• Riddex;
• Typhoon;
• Pest reject.

The insect will leave if you and other gardeners from neighboring plots install repellents at the same time. If the device breaks down, then bear will quickly spread throughout the site, the females will lay eggs, they will hatch larvae... If the neighbors use scarers together with you, then you will achieve the desired effect.

Biological agents

You can purchase Otmed... It is made from pepper, tar, milkweed, wormwood. This tool repels pests very well. Sell \u200b\u200balso Boverin - a pesticide made from a fungus, it actively acts on earthen crayfish.

Medvedka lizards, ants, hedgehogs, birds like to eat.

Prevention of the appearance

Advice! In the fall, collect all fallen leaves, branches, and remnants of vegetation. Next, dig up the ground to the depth of the shovel so that the bears freeze in winter. After digging the soil, the bears crawl out of their burrows.

True, digging a shallow layer of earth will not disturb the burrow. Digging the soil in early spring also does not bring results, since the cabbage trees have time to make new moves before the frost, where they will winter.

Then refill the traps with manure. This will attract pests. Don't dig holes until spring. In the spring, pour a flammable liquid into each hole and burn the bait along with the pests.

Before sowing, it is recommended to treat the seeds with Aktara, Masterpiece or Prestige preparations. You can also soak the rhizomes of the seedlings in these preparations before planting them on the site, and spray the potato tubers before placing them in the pits.

Put a ball of poison in the holes with seedlings and tubers. To do this, cook the millet, add the same amount of BI-58 to one part of the millet, leave the composition for 12 hours, then place it in the holes.

Upon detection bear many gardeners get lost, do not know what to do. Therefore, the advice of agronomists and the folk methods described above can help in the elimination of pests. Chemicals have also worked well.

Watch the video! How to get rid of a bear

Medvedka is one of the most dangerous pests of gardens and vegetable gardens. This insect lives in the soil and feeds on roots, it is able to destroy all plantings and roots. It is possible to clear the site of an unwanted inhabitant once and for all not only with the help of chemicals, but also with folk methods.

Today, the bear is already quite a familiar inhabitant in almost every garden. It multiplies rapidly and feeds on the roots or bulbs of plants, and is also particularly fond of root crops. If you do not take action, then this, at first glance, a clumsy insect is capable of destroying the entire crop.

The threat of a bear and where does it come from

Comes from the cricket family. It is quite large in size, some individuals can reach 5-6 cm in length. The common bear has well-developed forelimbs, which can also be called digging. Like a mole, it easily digs tunnels underground, destroying root shoots on its way. In the people, this pest is called earthen crayfish or cabbage.

What eats

Her diet includes all the vegetation in the garden, from flowers to melons and gourds. Laying eggs in the soil, one individual is able to reproduce up to 300 units of offspring at a time. The trouble is that not only adult insects, but also the larvae are very active. Starting in early spring, they destroy crops, and in summer and autumn, the ripening harvest of vegetables.

It is almost impossible to secure a site from an attack. Most often, it enters the soil along with the manure brought in for fertilization. This seemingly underground insect is also capable of flying at night.

Singing bear

The first sign of the presence of a pest in the garden is the characteristic voice of a bear. In the evening or at night, you can clearly identify her singing, a little reminiscent of the chirping of a cricket. If you hear similar sounds on your site, you should seriously worry about the further safety of all crops growing on the site. Another indicator of its presence in the garden is the characteristic holes in the ground in the form of moves.

Folk methods of dealing with a bear

In order to properly deal with such a pest, it is necessary to know well its behavior at different times of the year. It is customary to think that the bear lives only in the upper layers of the earth and loves moist, heated soil. But starting from August, she actively moves into deeper layers and begins to prepare for wintering. That is why the methods of struggle in spring and autumn are fundamentally different.

How to deal with a bear in the spring

The insect begins to show its activity already in the month of March, therefore, with the very beginning of the planting season, it is necessary to take the necessary measures.

The most common ways to deal with a pest are:

• It is necessary to exclude all breeding places of the bear on the site: it can be heaps of manure, leaves or debris, compost pits. In rotting plant debris, the earth warms up well and attracts an insect for laying eggs;
• In April or early May, manure baits are laid out on the site. After about a month, they are checked for the presence of larvae and the insects themselves;
• Before planting, it is necessary to plow the land well, this will help to partially get rid of the bear and destroy its masonry. It is also recommended to shallowly loosen the aisles in early June (no more than 15 cm in depth);
• Since she loves cow dung, you should not feed them plants, this can only attract insects from all over the area. Alternatively, you can use diluted chicken droppings, it will not only fertilize the soil, but also scare away the bear;
• At the bottom of each planting hole, crushed eggshells are placed (1 teaspoon under each bush), this will partially block the passage to the roots of the plant;
• Along the edges of the site, it is best to sow low marigolds (black shaves), the bear does not tolerate the smell of these flowers, and the passage from neighboring areas will be closed to her;
• Flood burrows with soapy water. In a liter of water, 15 g of soap and 40 g of powder are diluted, the liquid is poured into the hole, and after a couple of minutes the insects die in the mink or creep out, where they are collected and burned or dried and used for medicinal purposes;
• Vegetable oil is also used: a few drops added to the hole and filled with 2-3 liters of water block the insect's respiratory tract and kill it;
• They use homemade traps in the form of glass jars buried in the ground, not far from holes. The container is placed in the ground at an angle so that the soil surface is a couple of centimeters above the neck. You can use a lump of dung or beer with a strong malt smell in the jar. A pest that has crawled inside will not be able to get out along the glass walls of the vessel.

Such traps will help not only clear the soil of pests, but also collect insects for the manufacture of medicines. Medvedka has medicinal properties and is actively used both in folk and traditional medicine for the treatment of tuberculosis and many other diseases.

How to deal with a bear in the fall

Due to the fact that at the end of summer the bear goes deep into the soil, other methods of dealing with it are used. The most common of these are manure traps. On the site, they dig holes up to half a meter deep, fill them with bait and cover them with earth. Pests crawl into them for wintering. When cold weather sets in, the pits are opened and manure is scattered over the site, as a result of which the insects die from frost.

It is necessary to fight the bear regularly. So that the measures taken and the work done are not wasted and are as effective as possible, it is best to take care of the health of the garden together with your neighbors.

Preparations for fighting a bear

In addition to folk methods of struggle, special preparations can also be used. The most popular is Borevin. The product is made on the basis of the mushroom of the same name. The diluted drug is poured into the insect holes and wait until they appear on the surface. Dead individuals must be collected and destroyed (burned) so that they are not eaten by animals or birds. Be careful when working with Borevin, as contact with the substance causes an allergic reaction in a person.

A tried and tested tool is Rembek. This drug is also effective against garden ants and beetle larvae.

Scarers

Many will refuse to use chemicals in order not to harm wildlife. Therefore, as a safe alternative, you can use electronic ones, such as Green Belt or DIY scarers. Medvedka, like the mole, does not tolerate the vibrations of the earth, so it leaves the garden.

Outcome

Medvedka is one of the most vicious pests of garden and horticultural crops. There are many methods of insect control, both folk and medicinal. The most humane and safe is the use of special repellents.

When the wings are folded, the veins extend beyond the body. There are six legs in total, the front pair of which are short, powerful legs with spikes, adapted for digging. Outwardly, the bear looks like a cross between crayfish and locusts.

The bear's body is powerful, if you take it in your hands, it will immediately begin to twist, trying to free itself.

Why is it dangerous?

She lives underground, breaking through passages and gnawing the roots of plants on her way, spoils seedlings, eating most types of crops. Her diet includes tubers and root vegetables.as well as the stems of garden plants. He especially loves cabbage and onions.

In the process of life, the bear and it are damaged by potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, beets, eggplants, cucumbers, flower bulbs, roots of trees and shrubs. Besides the bear feeds on worms and some harmful insects, like beetle larvae.

Bear bite

Does it bite or not?

The bear is absolutely safe and simply cannot bite a person, so you will not find a photo of a bear bite. The maximum that an adult can do is pinch the toe with its front paws. The thorns can be painful, but such a "bite" will not do much harm.

The biggest bear

There is no official record for the size of the largest individuals. Gardeners claim that they saw a bear at 12 or even 15 centimeters long. This is possible under favorable living conditions and regular feeding of the bear.

Does the bear fly?

Despite the underground lifestyle, the bear is able to swim and fly well.

Getting out at night to the surface insect flies long distancesto find new feeding spots.

What sounds does it make?

Singing bear

So how does the bear sing? At night, from its holes, the bear emits powerful trills and chirping sounds, which in noise surpass the chirping of a cricket or a grasshopper. The insect uses its singing to communicate with congeners, changing the tone and character of the chirping. Most often this is the mating season. For chirping, she uses the friction of her wings.

What does he not like?

Trying, gardeners tear up their underground passages and pour poisons or washing powder there. In the same way, you can scare off the bear with a sprinkled needle case from the needles over the garden plot.

Also as a means they use boiled corn bait against the bear, barley or wheat, adding a little sunflower oil and even more insecticide.

Making a fishing pit: in the fall, manure is poured into a pit 60-80 cm deep, and in winter they throw it out and destroy the pests found.

If you need to protect the garden plants themselves, cut into small pieces of natural fabric 20 by 10 cm, moisten with water and tie the base of the stems before planting them in the ground.

The smell of chicken droppings is also extremely unpleasant for bears. To do this, you need to make a water infusion with droppings and periodically water the plants with it.

You can sow areas with rye as green manure, although there may not be room for the rest of the crop.

Every few meters, stick green alder branches into the ground, and do not forget to replace them with new ones from time to time.

What is he afraid of?

To protect the garden from the invasion of the bear, you should regularly cultivate the soil and, if nests are found, ruin them.

If you put a clove of garlic into the pits before planting garden plants, walnut leaves or coriander, and sprinkle the ground with crushed eggshell and another layer of soil, then this will most likely scare away the bear.

You can plant marigold or chrysanthemum flowers between the rows, which will also prevent the bears from settling on the site.

Greenhouses can be protectedby digging around the groove and filling them with kerosene-soaked sand.

Like most insects attracted by light, they are easily lured at night by lanterns. If you install a lantern against the wall, and put a basin with a mixture of kerosene and water below, then the bears will fly into the light and die in the liquid, landing there.

From chemical agents you can use special drugs like "Phenoxin plus", solutions "Karbofos", "Bankol", "Thunder", "Bear", "Medvetoks", "Cuts" and others. Including "humane", when the bear can be scared off naturally. Farmers can choose any method of dealing with these insects, whichever is the most convenient and effective.

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All the secrets of a dangerous garden pest were told to us by Pavel Zhirnov, candidate of agricultural sciences, senior state inspector of the Rosselkhoznadzor administration for the Trans-Baikal Territory and the Amur Region

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Medvedka is the most dangerous polyphagous pest of vegetables in the Amur Region. In 2012, climatic conditions in most areas of the region, fortunately for vegetable growers, were very unfavorable for the bear. In 2011, she bred incredibly in our region. However, the rainy weather last summer and autumn caused the massive death of this gluttonous creature. In wet, humid weather, the bear develops diseases - bacteriosis, from which it dies. Therefore, in 2013 there will be no mass distribution. Those who have a bear since 2012 or will unexpectedly show themselves in the current year need to know the following.

What is dangerous

Medvedka harms the underground parts of tomatoes, cabbage, peppers, eggplants and other garden crops, gnawing at them, and eats the sown vegetable seeds. He especially loves cucumber seeds. Seedlings dry up, damaged plants can be easily pulled out of the soil. In root vegetables and in potato tubers, the bear eats out large cavities, gnaws at the stems and tears off the roots. Although the bear lives mostly underground, at night it can fly over considerable distances, and also quickly swims in the water. Due to the secretive lifestyle, birds do not pose a threat to her. The bear causes the greatest damage to gardens with well-manured, regularly irrigated, loose, humus-rich soil.

A complex approach

In the fight against the bear, the main thing is to understand for yourself that there is no one miraculous way of getting rid of. The fight against the bear must be carried out in a comprehensive manner throughout the year, using several methods at the same time. And the more methods you use, the faster you get rid of it. The set of measures will have to be carried out within 2 - 3 years. The fight against the bear will be more productive when the owners of neighboring plots will carry out it with you. Take it and help them in word and deed. After all, the bears have no idea about the boundaries between neighboring areas. I will only talk about the most convenient and environmentally friendly methods of dealing with this dangerous insect, given in the special literature.

Method 1: Dung traps

In the spring, the bear can arrange dung traps. In early May, spread heaps of fresh or rotted manure over the site (at least 2 heaps per hundred square meters). After 20 days, check them and destroy the bear and eggs that have climbed there. If you have a familiar fisherman, then it is better to give the caught bear to him. Bears are an excellent bait for catching large fish, especially for catfish and pike. Be aware that fresh cow and especially horse manure attracts a bear, much like a cat's valerian. Therefore, try not to fertilize the garden with them. If you are afraid of a bear, it is better to feed the soil only with diluted bird droppings, it repels the insect. Deep loosening of the soil to a depth of 10 - 15 cm destroys the passages of the bear and the laying of its eggs, for this purpose, in May and the first half of summer, loosen the soil in the aisles more often.

To prevent the reproduction of a bear, all places where the bear is stored for manure, leaves, compost, garbage, where the bear finds ideal conditions for reproduction, fence around the perimeter with sheet metal, old linoleum, burying them into the soil by 50 - 60 cm and raising them above the soil surface by 40 - 50 cm ... The fence should be free of gaps (especially in the corners). Carry out extermination measures against the bear inside the fence. It is best and most reliable to protect your entire site (if there is such an opportunity) around the perimeter with the same materials so that it does not crawl or fly over from neighboring sites.

Method 2: catching with a shadow

You can catch a bear with shadow traps. Lay out pieces of plywood, roofing felt, old linoleum, cardboard - all in dark colors over the area. Medvedka loves to bask under them in the daytime. To increase efficiency, make holes in the ground under the shelter, where you put the bait - rice or pearl barley porridge, slightly flavored with unrefined sunflower oil for the smell. Twice a day, at 10 - 11 o'clock in the morning and in the evening, quietly approach the holes, sharply open the shelter and destroy the warming bear. If you make noise or hesitate, then the bear may have time to hide.

Method 3: Bathing in oil

In the hole, the bear sometimes makes vertical holes, the same holes can be found by weeding the beds. If you find such a hole, drop 7-10 drops of sunflower oil from a plastic bottle with a hole in the cork and then pour water into the hole with a ladle with a narrow spout. The oil film will clog the breathing holes of the bear. Sometimes you have to pour about a bucket if the burrow is deep and the ground is dry. From such bathing, the bear will either die or crawl out to the surface, where it can be destroyed.

Method 4: Bears love beer

Beer traps for a bear, recommended by many authors, on my own site in 2012 proved to be ineffective. Only two bears and, for some reason, one mouse were caught in four set traps. Perhaps the mouse choked on the beer, just chasing after the bear that rushed into the trap. I don’t know why beer traps were ineffective, maybe a rare species of Medvedka trezvennica lives on my site, or maybe Medvedka in 2012, like the conscientious citizens of our country, supported the campaign to eradicate beer alcoholism. In view of the ambiguity of the situation, you can try the method of beer traps on your site.

You can start catching it in this way from mid-May. Medvedka is considered to have a lot of respect for beer, so you buy the cheapest beer, preferably light (Medvedka doesn't know much about its varieties), pour it into half-liter plastic or glass bottles, preferably with a wide mouth, 50-100 ml each. less than two bottles per hundred square meters. Before digging in the bottle, loosen it well and moisten the earth in this place to a depth of 15 - 20 cm.Then, make holes 5-6 cm deep with a diameter of 20 cm in the moist earth.In the center of each hole, pour a bottle of beer, positioning it obliquely, under an angle of approximately 45 degrees. Place a small piece of dense linoleum or plywood 6 × 6 cm under the neck of the bottle.This is necessary so that the bear does not stuff earth into the bottle. It is important that the bottom edge of the tilted bottle neck should be at or slightly lower than the bottom of the well. Cover the hole with the bottle installed in it on top with any opaque material (plywood, tarmac, linoleum) about 30 × 30 cm in size. Sprinkle the edges of the square with earth so that light does not penetrate inside and moisture remains under it. Back, from the tilted bottle, the bears can no longer get out. Weekly check the traps set, use a wire hook to get the insects caught in a drunken business and, if necessary, replace the beer with fresh, after washing the bottle. The "beer festival" for the bear can be made easier - just dig into the ground at an angle of 45 degrees half-liter bottles with 50-100 ml of beer, having previously tied their necks with one layer of gauze and leaving 3-4 cm of soil above the necks. Bears prone to alcoholism will definitely gnaw through the gauze and climb inside. The disadvantage of such a low-budget "stall" is that soil will get into the bottle along with insects.

Method 5: Aspen stakes!

Not only vampires, but also bears are afraid of an aspen stake, therefore, for a long time, to scare away this annoying insect, they used stakes stuck into the ground, made from freshly cut green aspen or alder branches. The stakes must be with bark and 2 - 4 cm thick. Stakes in the habitats of the bear are stuck into the ground to a depth of 25 - 30 cm every 1 - 2 m from each other. During the summer, the stakes must be replaced with fresh ones at least 3 times.

Method 6: strong odors

Medvedka does not tolerate the smell of marigold flowers. Plant marigolds (preferably small ones, since large marigolds shade cultivated plants) throughout the plot and along its contour, and the bears will leave. The bear also repels the smell of rotten fish, garlic, onion husks. When planting seedlings of cucumbers, tomatoes, cabbage, potato tubers, you need to put several pieces of the cheapest fish, a handful of onion husks, dried marigold flowers or one clove of garlic in the hole. The fish quickly decays, and the bear bypasses this place. Along the edges of the beds with carrots, beets, green crops, you can spread the above "treats" and lightly sprinkle with earth. The smell of decomposing "food" will not allow the pest to destroy young seedlings.

Method 7: Shells and needles

When planting potatoes, try throwing a handful of last year's or fresh pine needles into the hole with the potato. In terms of efficiency, they are the same. If there is wood ash, add it to the hole, at least half a glass. This technique will simultaneously protect the potatoes from the bear, wireworm and fungal disease - scab.

Medvedka is also sick of the smell of iodine. When sowing seeds of carrots, beets and other root vegetables, spill the rows with a solution of iodine tincture (15 drops per bucket of water).

If you accumulate a lot of eggshells during the winter, then in the spring, after planting seedlings, make a circular groove around the stem with a diameter of 12 - 15 cm and a depth of 3 - 4 cm, pour into it 1 - 2 teaspoons of crushed eggshell moistened with unrefined vegetable oil, and sprinkle with sand on top. The bear, who has eagerly eaten such a shell, dies.

Method 8: physical barriers

To protect the planted seedlings of tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, cabbage, all kinds of barriers around the plants are used. You can, for example, grow these plants protected by rubber tubes. Rubber tubes, suitable in diameter, cut along one side, open and insert the stem of the plant there. Then you plant the seedlings as usual, only so that the tube protrudes 2 to 3 cm above the soil surface. When planting, you can also try to wrap the roots of seedlings with a double layer of nylon mesh, cut from used mesh bags from potatoes or onions. The same mesh can be used to wrap peat-baked or earthen pots with seedlings when planting. The roots of the seedlings will sprout through the net, and the bears will not be able to squeeze through. The edges of the net should rise above the soil surface.

Mulch the planted seedlings with straw. The straw is light, reflects the sun's rays, so the ground under it will be cool, and this is not at all suitable for the bear. A bear under mulch will not make a nest and, most likely, live too.

Method 9: Stain cold

An obligatory method of fighting a bear is fishing in winter apartments. In mid-September, immediately after harvesting root crops and potatoes, dig holes in your plot measuring 0.5 × 0.5 m and a depth of 0.5 m (at least two holes per hundred square meters) and fill them with manure (best with horse manure) or old leaves, humus, if there is no manure. It is best to add 2 - 3 tbsp to the contents of the pit. tablespoons of beer and 1 tablespoon of unrefined vegetable oil. The bears remaining on the site will definitely climb there for wintering. With the onset of stable frosts, manure with bears is scattered over the surface of the earth, and the bears die from the cold.

Method 10: Chemistry

If within 2 - 3 years of using the above methods you have not been able to cope with the bear, try using chemical preparations to combat it. But remember, chemical agents for fighting the bear are strong poisons, which, if used incorrectly, can poison you yourself or birds, pets, for example, cats, who have eaten the drug itself or a bear that have died from it, can be poisoned. Granular preparations are now on sale: Grizzly, Thunder, Medvetox. The granules of the above preparations must be decomposed when planting seedlings, planting potatoes, sowing seeds at a distance of 5 - 10 cm from the plants in grooves made between rows with a depth of 3 - 4 cm. The grooves must be sealed with earth and better watered. Medvedka eats soaked granules of the drug more willingly. Do not be afraid that the buried pellets will be inaccessible to the bear. By smell, she will quickly find them underground. Pets can be poisoned if the pellets are not buried. You yourself understand that you cannot release poultry into such a cultivated garden. The consumption rate of the above drugs is approximately 30 g per 10 square meters of planting. Protects the planting agent for 25 - 30 days. On industrial planting of potatoes, granules of the drug "Force" are used, adding them when planting tubers. The above preparations destroy the wireworm at the same time as the bear. The drugs will not cause any harm to plants and people who eat these plants.