Cereal aphids

Scientific Name: Schizaphis graminum                                      Type of pest:  Pests of cereal crops
Order:  — Homoptera
Family:  — Aphididae
 
In Ukraine beetle is widespread in the south of the forest-steppe zone and in the steppe. It damages wheat, barley, oats, sorghum, rice, rye, feed on many wild grasses.
Flapless parthenogenetic females measuring 2.7-2.9 mm, light green, with a longitudinal green strip in the middle of the back.
Egg - 0.6 mm, elongated oval shape; Fresh egg - greenish, with time darkens and becomes black.
Life cycle is one-way.
Lives large colonies on the lower and upper surfaces of the leaves of cereals.
The eggs are wintering on the leaves of winter crops and wild grasses.
The founders come from wintering eggs, in the beginning - in the middle of April.
In warm and dry weather, the aphid reproduction massively, especially in the southern regions, where it causes more damage in the absence of moisture.
During the growing season can develop in 10-12 generations.
In places of damage the plants are discolored, sometimes reddened.
Also, aphids carry viral diseases of cereals.
A considerable amount of aphids are destroying coccinellas - imago and larvae, predators of the families Miridae, Nabidae and Anthocoridae, zhezelica and staphilinides.
However, not always natural enemies can reduce the population of aphids to the economically insensitive level.

Protection measures. Growing early varieties; introduction of nitrogen fertilizers. Surface treatment with insecticides Bi-58, Nurel D, Fastak in the presence of 150 specimens / m2 in the cells and in the phase of pouring grain when 50% or more of the number of ears with a population of more than 20 ex / m2 per ear.