Long-leg - a threat to the harvest!

There is such an insect - a swamp mosquito or a harmful centipede, large gray mosquitoes with very long legs. They are active at night, during the day they hide in thickets of grass and trees.

Why is the centipede dangerous for humans and crops?

For humans, centipede mosquitoes are not dangerous. Plants also do not suffer from an adult. But the larvae of this individual can cause a lot of trouble.

The centipede larvae are polyphagous, harm fields and vegetable gardens, cause massive harm during mass reproduction. They are an elongated legless body, 30-40 mm long, earthy gray in color with a small head.

In summer, there is little harm from centipedes, as they feed on humus and plant debris. In spring, the danger lies in the fact that they prefer young shoots of plants, gnaw partially or completely at the base of the stems of peas, clover, flax, legumes, cabbage, zucchini, beets, cucumbers, pumpkins, potatoes. Such seedlings quickly wither and die off. Wintering takes place in the ground, at a depth of 20 cm.

How does the centipede breed?

No more than one generation of centipede larvae develops per year, favorable conditions are considered: moist (at least 60%), warm enough (16 degrees), soil rich in organic fertilizers.

Around the second half of July, the long-stemmed insect pupates, and after 10 days a new generation of mosquitoes hatch. At the same time, females choose clogged and compacted areas of land, lay a new clutch of eggs (from 350 to 1200), into the soil to a depth of about 1 cm. With dry soil, the eggs will die.

Where does the harmful centipede come from?

The reasons for the mass appearance of centipede larvae may be in the introduction of fresh and raw peat fertilizers into the soil, as well as silt or waterlogged soil. During floods or rainy summers, you should be extremely careful. Ensure good soil drainage.

Fighting the centipede

For the correct control of the number of centipede larvae, preventive measures are necessary: ​​liming of acidic soils, the obligatory introduction of sand on heavy soils, annual digging of land in the post-harvest period, loosening between rows during the growing season, the use of necessarily dried peat or compost, as well as other organic matter, leveling of depressions , removal of weeds, which the centipede larva is not averse to feasting on.

If the number of centipede larvae is quite high, use insecticides (granules Thunder, Thunder - 2, Mukhoed) together with planting seeds and seedlings. These drugs are used against bears and ants, but they are also perfect for the larvae of the harmful centipede.