Hello, friends! Summer is just beginning, the days are wonderful for gardening and field work. But after the hot weeks of spring, pests attack vegetable gardens and orchards with incredible force. Aphids on everything that is possible, midges, fleas, beetles ... The onion secretive trunk does not sleep either. In our area, almost no one knows this pest by name, but almost everyone meets its larvae in an onion feather.
Signs of onion defeat by a secretive hunter
Pay attention to the bow feather. If the tops begin to turn yellow, and whitish transparent stripes appear along the feather, and the feather itself seems to have been broken by someone - look for the onion secretive trunk. Select a few damaged feathers and carefully unravel them lengthwise.
Onion Stalker
The beetles of the secretive beetle hibernate under lumps of soil or plant debris along roads and ditches. In early spring, sometimes even in April, the beetles come out and begin to feed at first on junk onions, the ones that have remained in the garden since last year, and then move on to young shoots of turnips, nigella and sevka.
The female beetle makes a puncture in the feather and lays eggs, from which the larvae emerge. The larvae of the secret proboscis are yellowish, legless. It is they who eat the passages in the pulp of the feather to the skin. If there are a lot of larvae in the feather, then such a feather can dry out. For 20-25 days, the larvae intensively feed and grow, after which they eat a hole at the base of the feather, through which they go into the upper layers of the soil for pupation. By the end of June, the beginning of July, young beetles hatch, which continue to eat onions, only now outside until wintering.
How to deal with the onion lurker
By mid-June, the larvae of the secretive proboscis leave the "cradles" and the onion begins to recover, a new feather grows. If the weather conditions and planting care are appropriate, the plants will cope and give a good harvest of turnips. Accordingly, no chemicals should be used. Much worse things are with nigella for sevok and with turnip for nigella. These two stages of onion development suffer from the secretive proboscis quite strongly.
A feather from a turnip to a nigella is usually not eaten, so you can spray such an onion during the growing season with a solution of "Karbofos" (60 g per 10 liters of water).
To reduce the number of pests, it is necessary to loosen the aisles more often during the period of pupation of the larvae. Before loosening, repellents are scattered on the onion: ash, red pepper, dry mustard. To reduce crop losses, you can feed the affected plants with phosphorus-potassium fertilizers. On small plantations, it is recommended to remove the damaged feather. At our scale, this is quite problematic to do ...
Harvest onions carefully, leaving no residue in the garden.
For the winter, beetles can fly quite far - more than 100m, so "everyone to fight weeds."
Tagged The onion secretive trunk is a harmful beetle 2-2.5 mm long endowed with an oval-shaped body. Its long and thin rostrum is slightly bent under the body. The elytra of this pest are single-colored and have a dark brown color, and the scales located at the intervals fold into intermittent stripes of pale yellow color.The size of rounded pale white eggs of pests is 0.3 - 0.5 mm. The yellow legless larvae are slightly bent and endowed with well-marked heads. The length of such larvae reaches 6.5 mm. And the pupae, whose size is in the range from 3 to 3.5 mm, are painted in light yellow shades and spend most of their time in earthen cradles.
Wintering of immature adults takes place under the remains of vegetation, as well as under soil lumps in forest belts, ditches and on roadsides. Adults are quite active. In spring, they feed on last year's sprouted onions, and a little later they move to new shoots.
The females of the onion secretive proboscis almost always lay their eggs one at a time, arranging them on the inner parts of the tubular leaves. Their total fecundity is from fifty to seventy eggs. The development of eggs takes from five to sixteen days, and larvae - from fifteen to twenty.
Harmful larvae eat away the flesh of the leaves and, without touching the outer cuticles, skeletonize them. On the damaged leaves, you can see small spots and longitudinal stripes of whitish hues. With a significant colonization of onions in one leaf, you can find from ten to twenty voracious larvae. The yellowed leaves dry up. Onion enemies pupate at a depth of three to six centimeters in the soil, in fancy earthen cradles. At the end of June, the emergence of adults feeding on inflorescences and leaf tissues is observed. One-year generation is characteristic of the onion secretive trunk.
How to fight
It is very important to be extremely careful when harvesting onions and promptly destroy plant debris. At the stage of transition of harmful larvae into the soil, as well as at the stage of their pupation, loosening and cultivation of all row spacings are required. New onion crops are recommended to be planted away from last year's - compliance with spatial isolation will certainly serve you well.
On commercial crops of onions, as well as on their testes, the use of insecticides is allowed if there are from five to ten larvae per plant or from two to four adults per square meter of crops. It is best to identify the number of pests in the morning or evening hours - this will allow you to get a more reliable picture. It is important to know that the use of insecticides is unacceptable if onions are grown on a feather.
During the growing season, plants are sprayed with "Karbofos" - 60 g is taken per ten liters of water, and a liter of the resulting solution is consumed for every ten square meters. In general, when fighting the onion secretive trunk, you can use the methods used in the fight against the onion fly.
Oh, gardeners have truly sworn enemies who have been annoying, despite the irreconcilable struggle, for decades. Among the first such pests is called the onion secretive trunk. It is popularly referred to more harshly as the “cursed weevil”, since since the times of the USSR it has caused enormous damage to farmers. A feature of the pest is polyphagous, that is, it is a threat to various garden crops. The insect does not pass by the beds with onions.
biological portrait
Appearance of an adult beetle
The onion secretive trunk is a small gray bug in length not exceeding 3 mm. The main "working tool" is the proboscis. It is this organ that is a distinctive feature of this insect and it is impossible to confuse it with any other pest.
Important! The pest is distributed in the central zone of the Russian Federation, Siberia and partly in Kazakhstan.
The secretive trunk leaves for the winter in the form of a beetle. It settles down for a frosty period on the grassy slopes of ravines, if any, in the dry wood - grass and foliage. With the onset of spring, the beetle emerges and its first diet consists of last year's organic residues. Onion shoots are among the first to appear in the open field, and the pest moves on them. With its proboscis in the leaves of a tubular texture, and in the heads too, the female beetle gnaws out a cavity where it lays one single egg. Such masonry is visually well defined - on the sheets they are visible in the form of light spots.
reproduction
The exit time of the larva depends on external conditions and can range from 5 to 16 days. And what does the larva look like - an elongated shape 6-7 mm long. The young growth feeds on the tender pulp of the onion, while the outer integument of the organs is not damaged, passages are gnawed in the leaves and stems, which look like lighter stripes from the outside. The cyclic form of the larva is 15-20 days. Then the caterpillar makes a hole in the leaf, through which it goes into the soil to pupate. The nature of the damage in a gardener with a trained eye immediately allows you to recognize which enemy he has to defeat.
The period June-July is the time when fully formed bugs emerge from the pupa. Here they do not choose between the tender and coarsened tissues of the onion culture. Beetles rapidly devour both leaves and inflorescences. Damage is carried out with the help of the same proboscis, the plant is pierced and ugly cavities are eaten away. As a result, significant damage is caused to both marketable plant products and seed crops. With the onset of autumn, the beetles leave for wintering, while they, having the ability to fly, can move over distances of 200-300 m.
Weevil control measures
Physical methods
- As in the fight against other insects, the most important preventive factor is a competent crop rotation. The location of the beds with onions must be changed every year.
- Dealing with plant debris. At the end of the season, the soil should be as free of weeds as possible, as well as deeply dug or plowed.
- In the season, between the rows of onion crops, it is necessary to loosen the aisles to prevent pupation of the larvae, which occurs at a depth of 8-10 cm.
- The beds during the growing season are watered with various fertilizers.
- At an early stage, affected cultures must be removed.
- Presumable wintering grounds for beetles should be deeply plowed in autumn. If the garden is located in close proximity to the ravine, then it should be given the closest attention.
Folk recipes
- Even without identifying the pest, after planting the onion, it is worth sprinkling between the rows with such improvised repellents as chopped red or black pepper, mustard powder or ordinary wood ash. They can be combined with each other.
- Quite good results are shown by the fight with the onion secretive trunk by pollination with tobacco dust mixed with sifted wood ash. The proportion is observed in a ratio of 1:2. It is better to apply such a dry composition on moistened onions - after irrigation or rain, for better adhesion.
- Thrifty gardeners always have in their arsenal a powder of dried herbs - tansy and celandine. It can also be used to repel beetles by sifting between rows or by pollinating the plants themselves.
- You can also spray with decoctions or infusions of insecticidal plants - tomato or potato tops.
Attention! In a small individual area, you can try to lure the beetle into a trap. Experts have long revealed his special taste for onions. If this crop is planted in a small amount next to other onion varieties, then the weevil will massively accumulate on it. Next, you just need to destroy the pests in any suitable way. True, if this is not done, then the effect will be the opposite.
How to deal with chemicals
DDT (dichlorodiphenyl trichloromethylmethane)
Onion sets and other seed material are treated with DDT (5.5%), an insecticide belonging to the group of organochlorine compounds. Affects the nerve cells of beetles, causes paralysis, and then death. It is highly toxic to humans and warm-blooded animals. The drug has been known for a long time and is familiar to farmers under the term "dust".
Hexachloran (12%)
Yellowish powder with a gray tint, with a specific smell of mold. Simply put, this is also dust. It is very resistant to external influences and provides protection for a significant period of time.
Vofatox (2.5%)
Contact insecticide. Destructively affects both adults and larvae.
Attention! Treatment with Hexachloran and Vofatox should be carried out for the first time immediately after germination to prevent the process of laying eggs by sexually mature female beetles.
Thiophos (0.1%)
Organophosphate contact insecticide. It is supplied to consumers in the form of an oily liquid with a sharp unpleasant odor similar to garlic. Dangerous for pets and people. For comparison, it can be noted that it is more toxic than Dichlorvos. When spraying, be sure to use PPE.
Rogor (0.1%)
Supplied as an emulsion concentrate. It is characterized by contact-intestinal action. Highly effective against hidden insects. The death of the pest occurs in 3-5 hours.
Karbofos (0.6%)
Moderately toxic pesticide. Supplied in ampoules of 10 ml. It is diluted in water by 5 or 10 liters, according to the instructions indicated on the package of the drug. Spraying is carried out until the plant is completely wetted. Favorable temperature regime up to + 15 C. The weather is calm and dry. The approximate consumption of the solution is 1 liter per 10 m2.
Important! The use of any pesticides on the onion feather is not allowed. It is strictly forbidden to use such a vegetable product after spraying for food.
As you can see, the onion weevil, despite its harmfulness, can be destroyed. At the same time, we want to emphasize once again that preventive measures are of great importance in the fight against this pest. Follow our recommendations and you may not have to resort to chemical treatments.
Onion secretive proboscis (weevil)- (Ceutorrhynchus jakovlevi Schulze) - beetle 2-2.7 mm long. The end of the head is elongated into a "proboscis" (rostrum), usually bent down. Antennae articulated, club-visibly thickened at the end.
The body is black, but, thanks to the white scales covering it, it seems gray. Narrow whitish stripe along suture, elytra. The tip of the abdomen is not covered by elytra. Legs are red-brown. The eggs are small (0.3-0.5 mm), rounded, whitish.
Larvae without legs, yellowish, up to 6.5 mm long, with a brown head. The onion secretive trunk is distributed in the middle zone of the European part of Russia, in Siberia and in some places in Kazakhstan.
The onion secretive trunk hibernates in the beetle stage, located mainly on the grassy slopes of ditches, ravines, along roadsides, under dried grass and lumps of soil.
In the largest number of beetles are located for wintering on the slopes facing north, partly to the east and west. Beetles come out of wintering early in spring: in the middle lane from mid-April, and in Siberia - in May.
The first time after leaving wintering, the beetles feed mainly on sprouted, diseased bulbs that remain unharvested in the field, then they move to onion crops and damage it.
The beetles gnaw small holes in the leaves, into which the “proboscis” is immersed, and eat small cavities in the pulp of the leaf, under the skin.
Damage looks like round whitish spots, as if pricked by a needle, located in a closed row along the "edge" of the sheet. Seedlings in areas of onions sown with seeds are especially affected by beetles, damaged seedlings often dry up in places of damage and die.
At the end of April - in the first days of May (in the middle zone of the European part of Russia), the females of the secretive proboscis begin to lay eggs.
The female lays eggs through a hole gnawed in the feather on the inner surface of the tubular onion leaves.
Larvae develop from eggs 5-16 days after laying. They gnaw passages in the pulp of the leaves, visible from the outside in the form of whitish longitudinal stripes. Damaged leaves turn yellow, starting at the top, and dry up.
The lurker can cause great harm. On heavily infested areas of onion sowing, sometimes 100% of the leaves are damaged by larvae, on one leaf under such conditions there are an average of 7 larvae, and in individual leaves - up to 17.
However, the mass death of onions from damage by the larvae of the secretive proboscis usually does not occur. The period of harmful activity of larvae ends by the end of June. After that, new leaves begin to grow on the damaged plants and the onion crops become green again.
Nevertheless, the termination of vital activity of a significant part of the assimilating leaf surface in May and June and the replacement of dead leaves with new ones significantly reduce the onion yield.
Development in the larval stage lasts an average of 15-20 days, after which the larvae gnaw holes in the leaves, go into the ground, and there at a depth of 3-6 cm in an earthen chamber (“cradle”) turn into pupae. At the end of June or at the beginning of July (in the middle lane), beetles of a new generation appear. They feed on the tissues of the leaves and onion inflorescences.
Beetles can cause significant harm to onion testicles, since, by gnawing the pedicels, they thereby cause the death of flowers and seeds. After harvesting the onion and its seed beetles, secretive proboscis beetles fly away to the wintering grounds, sometimes at rather long distances - 100-200 m from the onion sowing areas.
In addition to onions, the secretive proboscis infects batun, chives, horned multi-tiered onions (Allium proliferum), wild types of onions (A. rotundum, A. angulosum). In garlic, leaf damage was observed only by beetles.
M fight eras:
- agrotechnical measures are of primary importance in the fight against the secretive boletus: placing onions in the fields of crop rotation, as far as possible from the wintering grounds of beetles and from last year's onion crops, cleaning from the field and careful destruction of post-harvest residues and waste after onion storage, which serve as places of accumulation of beetles and are used by them for food in the early spring.
In addition, it is necessary to additionally carefully loosen the aisles during the period of mass pupation of larvae (in June); at the same time, the “earthen cradles” are destroyed and the pupae of the secretive botanist die.
Crops of perennial onion-batun in the spring attract secretive trunk beetles; therefore, it is sometimes advised to place onion crops next to small areas of batun in order to then destroy the pests that have gathered on batun crops by chemical or mechanical means. With the untimely destruction of the beetles, the crops of the batun can, on the contrary, only increase the damage to the onion;
- use of insecticides.
Onion root mites on onions 
Onion root mite in the photo
onion root mite everywhere damages onions in open and protected ground, storages. Ticks preferentially colonize damaged or diseased plants. In the affected bulbs, the outer surface of the juicy scales is covered with brownish dust, the bottom along the edges is thinned, subsequently falls off, the roots do not form.
These pests are hardly noticeable on onion beds, since the mites are very small (0.5-1 mm). The bulbs are penetrated through the bottom. Spread with the remains of damaged plants, soil, inventory.
Onion stalker on a bow 
Onion secretive hunter in the photo
Onion western lurker- pest larvae gnaw longitudinal whitish passages in the pulp of the leaves, translucent through the skin. Larvae up to 7 mm long are yellowish, legless, with a brown head. As adults, they leave the leaves and go into the soil. At the end of July, black beetles appear, which feed on onion leaves before harvesting, winter under the remains of plants, lumps of soil, and stones.
In spring, at an air temperature of +8...+10°C, the beetles begin to additionally feed on young onion leaves.
Onion moth on the bow 
Onion moth in the photo
onion moth Causes significant damage to onions, leeks and garlic in warm, dry weather. Damaged leaves, starting from the tops, turn yellow and dry. Light longitudinal spots - mines - are visible on them. Caterpillars penetrate into unopened onion inflorescences and eat out the rudiments of flowers there. During flowering, pedicels gnaw.
As you can see in the photo, the caterpillars of this onion pest reach a length of up to 1 cm, and butterflies - in a wingspan of up to 1.5 cm:
Caterpillars on a bow 
Butterflies in the photo
Butterflies hibernate in various secluded places, plant remains, and in the spring at the end of April - May they begin to fly.
Onion fly on a bow 
Fly fly in the photo
onion fly poses a danger to onions, leeks, garlic and other onion crops. Damaged plants lag behind in growth, their leaves fade, turn yellowish-gray, and then dry out. Damaged bulbs become soft, rot, emit an unpleasant odor.
Harm white larvae up to 1 cm long, which develop for about three weeks. They then pupate in the soil near damaged plants.
In the conditions of the southern region, the onion fly has two generations. Flies of the first generation fly during the flowering period of lilac, the second - in July. They overwinter as a pupa in the soil at a depth of 5-8 cm.
Onion hoverfly on a bow 
Onion hoverfly in the photo
onion hoverfly especially harms weakened plants of various types of onions. Affected plants lag behind in growth, the tops of the leaves turn yellow and wither. The bulbs become soft, rot and emit an unpleasant odor.
Pest larvae are quite large, up to 1 cm. They turn into pupae in the soil near damaged plants.
Hoverflies fly at the end of May - June during the flowering of wild rose. They lay their eggs on or near the bulbs in the soil. The hatched larvae penetrate into the bulbs and feed there for about a month. The pest hibernates in the bulb itself.
Onion stem nematode on onions 
Onion stem nematode in the photo
Onion stem nematode affects onions and garlic during the growing season and storage. Infected seedlings grow slowly, the first leaf is swollen and twisted. With severe damage, the plants die. Grayish spots appear on the surface of the infected bulbs, the inner scales become loose, soft, unevenly thickened. Cavities form between the scales, and the bulb feels soft to the touch. The outer scales, and sometimes the bottom, crack; in autumn, such bulbs are without roots. Gray spots are visible near the cracks - clusters of nematodes.
Nematodes hibernate in bulbs, the remains of leaves and scales, seeds. Remain viable in dry scales up to five years.
Diseases when growing onions: photo and description of fungal diseases
Downy mildew on onions 
Downy mildew in the photo
Neck rot on onions 
Neck rot in the photo
neck rot- the most harmful onion disease during storage. Its development begins in the garden bed. In the second half of summer, when the onion leaves wither and lie down, the fungus penetrates the neck of the bulb. Its tissues soften, a dent forms. 1-2 months after harvesting, the rot covers the entire bulb, it becomes watery, acquires a yellow-pink hue, and emits an unpleasant odor.
Look at the photo - with this onion disease, the affected scales are covered with a smoky-gray bloom of the fungus:
Neck rot on onions 
Neck rot in the photo
The bulb dries up, leaving only dry scales. During storage, the rot spreads from diseased bulbs to healthy ones. In this case, the lesion begins on the side or bottom of the bulb.
Varieties with dark-colored scales have a shorter growing season, faster maturation, and are more resistant to this disease.
Rust on bow 
Onion rust in the photo
Rust affects onions, leeks, garlic. In spring, orange, later reddish-yellow powdery small “warts” form on onion leaves, which turn black in summer. With a strong development of the disease, the leaves dry early, the bulbs become smaller. The causative agent of the disease overwinters on plant debris, as well as on perennial types of onions.
Green moldy rot on onions 
Green moldy rot in the photo
Green moldy rot often found on onions during storage. Initially, brown watery spots appear on the bottom or outer scales of the bulbs. On spots and under dry scales, a whitish, then green or bluish-green coating forms first. The causative agent of this fungal onion disease persists in the soil on plant debris, as well as in crop storage areas. The development of rot during storage is facilitated by increased humidity, as well as freezing of the bulbs.
These photos show onion diseases and pests that threaten plantings:
Diseases and pests of onions 
Diseases and pests in the photo
Below you will learn how to protect onions from pests and diseases.
Protection of onion plantings from diseases and pests
- use healthy planting material;
- plant zoned varieties that show the greatest resistance to pests and diseases;
- strictly observe the alternation of cultures. Return the onion to its original bed no earlier than 3-4 years later.
- For the prevention of onion diseases, you need to remember that the best predecessors for these crops are potatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, cabbage, parsnips, celery, turnips, radishes.
- Before sowing, carry out heat treatment of seeds (scalding them with running boiling water through a sieve), warm the seeds for 2-3 days at a temperature of +30 ... + 35 ° C or for 20-25 days at + 25 ° C.
- To treat onions from diseases and protect against pests, it is necessary to apply Bazudin, Zemlin or Start to the soil when planting or with top dressing.
- When growing onions on a turnip with the appearance of the first signs of peronosporosis, spray "Profit Gold". Repeat the treatment after 12-15 days;
- seed plantings of onions from pests (moths of the secretive proboscis) are sprayed with one of the insecticides recommended for protecting cabbage;
- during the growing season, carry out all agrotechnical activities (watering, fertilizing, weeding, loosening, etc.).
- To protect against onion diseases and pests, timely harvesting of ripe onions is necessary. Overexposed on the beds is stored poorly;
- sort out and discard bulbs with mechanical damage and signs of damage by pests and diseases before storage; dry well. Observe the optimal storage mode;
- in the garden, carefully remove all plant debris, destroy severely affected bulbs. The discarded ones should be discarded first.
Below is a selection of photos dedicated to the treatment of onions for diseases and protection from pests:
Onion pest control 
Pest protection in the photo
