The soldier bug (Pyrrhocoris apterus) , also called the red bug or cossack bug, is a terrestrial invertebrate from the family Red bugs and the order Hemiptera.
It reaches 11 mm in length and has a variegated color: black back and elytral plates with a complex red, less often orange, pattern. There are many varieties of patterns; scientists associate the type of pattern on the back with the ecological situation of the area where it was located as a larva.
Kozachek has large, complex, black eyes, a piercing-sucking type of mouthparts, and a proboscis, normally hidden under the body, capable of piercing the chitinous cover of invertebrates. The wingless red bug has a gland in its chest that secretes a strong-smelling secretion and walking-type legs. Their black antennae consist of four segments.
Habitat
This species has a very wide habitat. It can be found throughout the territory, from the Arctic Circle to tropical forests. It inhabits all of temperate Eurasia and northern Africa, and it has also been introduced to North America. In Russia it is present throughout the territory.
What does it eat?
Red bugs and their larvae consume cell sap, using their proboscis to pierce the hard shell of the leaf and gain access to the nutritious sap, without disdaining any plant growing in the garden. It also comes with the seeds and fruits of some trees and shrubs. In rare cases, the wingless red bug can feast on the corpses of small invertebrates and even resort to cannibalism.
Where is it distributed?
The soldier bug is widespread in Eurasia, northern Africa and the USA. Countries with temperate climates favor the breeding of insects. Bedbug habitat:
- under the bark of trees;
- on the stumps;
- in piles of dry grass and leaves;
- at the foundations of houses, resorts, gazebos and other outbuildings;
- in the fence and its foundation.
During hibernation, insects are found under heaps of garbage, in humus, on trees - under the bark or in hollows.
Signs of appearance
The appearance of a red soldier in your garden can be signaled by such phenomena as:
- drying of leaves of umbrella crops;
- the appearance of yellow spots on cabbage leaves;
- falling of buds and flowers;
- curling and drying of root crop tops;
- developmental lag of young seedlings;
- drying of berries.
The easiest way to find signs of damage is in crops such as cabbage (you should pay attention to large yellow spots on the leaves), coriander or dill (they begin to dry out quickly, since these varieties belong to the umbrella family), carrots and beets are inhibited in their development, leaf blades become deformed and wither.
Severely affected crops that cannot be saved must be removed and destroyed. They may contain larvae, which may soon infect surrounding crops.
Thanks to the color of bedbugs, they are easy to spot with the naked eye when they crawl out to bask in the sun. This is their common habit.
What harm do insects and their larvae cause?
Some time ago, the soldier bug was not considered a harmful insect at all: it crawled and crawled on its own, without bothering anyone. But science, studying an increasing number of plants, insects and animals, got to him and delivered a verdict - guilty!
In addition to the fact that soldiers, like aphids, eat sap and are scavengers, their aggression towards beneficial insects, for example, lacewings, has recently become noticed.
With soldiers, everything ends up the same as with aphids, the leaves become bent, the shoots stop growing. Photosynthesis decreases, the plant’s consumption of nutrients is reduced, hence the reduction in yield. It often happens that plants attacked by hordes of beetles simply die. And fruits and berries, speckled with bites from such insects, look, to say the least, not at all attractive.
Grape plantings are at particular risk, and, by the way, these bugs are seen there most often. The strength and durability of the soldiers' proboscis is quite enough to pierce the grape stems and the fruits themselves, turning them into something wrinkled and completely unattractive. You need to constantly fight soldier bugs, and now we will tell you how.
Reproduction
The breeding period of soldier bugs does not take much time. The mating process occurs in a rather strange way. Two Cossacks cling together with the back of their body and move without disengaging for some time. After this, the female places them inside the plants that she feeds on at this time. One oviposition consists of 20-30 small yellowish eggs and can be located in any above-ground part of the plant.
Larvae
The larvae emerge from the eggs 10-12 days after the eggs are laid; they are small in size and uniformly colored red. They, like adults, use cell sap for nutrition. They often drink the sap of birch, legumes and young shoots, both cultivated varieties and weeds.
The larvae are clearly visible in the spring on the birch bark, where they crawl out to bask in the sun's rays.
What does it eat?
Soldier insects feed on seeds, plant and fruit juices, as well as the remains of other insects. They bring food closer to the ground; they will climb a tall tree only as a last resort. In the absence of sufficient nutrition, bedbugs feed on weeds and even their own relatives. Red insects have a powerful proboscis that can pierce fairly hard shoots and plant seeds. Insects cannot harm humans. The proboscis cannot pierce the skin of an adult or child. Small larvae feed only on the sap of young shoots. The mouthparts are not fully developed, and insects cannot pierce other plants.
Soldier bugs, like all representatives of the species, have scent glands. In adult insects they are located on the chest, in larvae, on the abdomen closer to the dorsal part.
Harm or benefit of a bug
Despite the fact that until recently the soldier bug was considered harmless to gardens, today science has proven that it is a common pest that brings many problems to farmers and gardeners, eating their gardens and killing young shoots.
After their appearance, the leaves become bent, the shoots do not grow, adult plants become covered with spots and may even die if a large colony has settled in the garden. Due to damage to green cells, photosynthetic capacity decreases, which means the amount of absorbed substances decreases and the yield decreases. Cossacks can do especially a lot of harm to vineyards, where they are most often found.
Kozachek can feed on both stems and fruits of grapes, causing enormous damage to the vineyard. Fortunately, we can say with confidence that this insect is completely harmless to the health of humans and animals, because it does not settle in houses, it can bite a person only in extreme cases, it does not carry any dangerous diseases, bites do not cause allergic reactions, so you should be afraid of the Cossack not worth it.
Why is the soldier bug harmful?
Soldier insects are not at all harmless animals, as is commonly believed. They feed not only on seeds, but also on the remains of dead insects. Pests suck the juice from young shoots, leaves, and fruits, thereby causing severe damage to garden crops. Damage caused by fire insects:
- They like to suck the juice out of grapes, as a result the yield of the bushes is significantly reduced. Damaged berries become unsuitable for food;
- The insect's proboscis is quite powerful, so it can pierce hard seeds and thick shoots. The plant, from which insects suck out beneficial juices, gradually stops blooming, bears fruit and dies;
- infect tree trunks and branches;
- damages cabbage and beet leaves, leaving small punctures on them;
- destroy the seeds sown in the ground;
- they are dangerous pests for emerging seedlings. Bed bugs suck out the nutritious juice, causing the shoots to dry out.
A large colony of insects can cause significant damage to summer cottages, farms and vineyards.
What is it often confused with?
The soldier bug is often confused with the firefighter beetle, although they are not very similar to each other.
The fire beetle (Cantharis rustica) is a species of soft-bodied beetle found throughout southern Russia.
This beetle is one and a half to two times longer than the soldier and has a different color (brown elytra and an orange abdomen), they are useful for humans, because they feed on eggs and young insects, thus exterminating many pests. These beetles fly beautifully and also lay eggs in rotten wood. In fact, the soldier is not a beetle at all, since beetles belong to the order Coleoptera, and he belongs to the order Hemiptera.
Why are these insects so often confused? It's very simple, people confuse the soldier bug with the fireman beetle because of the fiery red color of its wing covers.
Life cycle
The lifespan of a wingless insect is 12-14 months. In warm regions, two generations of insects appear, in cold regions - one. By the end of August, the soldiers' metabolism slows down, that is, they are preparing for hibernation - suspended animation. After going to sleep, insects survive thanks to nutrients accumulated over the summer and a slow metabolism. Bugs wake up in March - April, as soon as the sun begins to warm the earth and the first vegetation appears. Some young individuals and females cannot withstand the spring cold and die. Adult females lay eggs in May. The process of insect formation occurs in several stages: egg - larva - insect... Newly formed females continue reproduction in mid-late June.
Fighting methods
So, after you have found one or more signs of the appearance of this insect in your garden, you need to make sure that it is a soldier bug by finding one or more representatives in your area. This is very easy to do thanks to their color. After this, it is worth starting to destroy the pest.
Traditional methods
There is no point in immediately starting heavy artillery using pesticides. It’s better to start with softer traditional methods that are less likely to damage your agrocenosis.
The simplest and most commonly used:
Onion decoction (250 grams per bucket of water, the norm per square meter of soil infested with the pest), wood ash (200 grams per bucket), mustard powder (100 grams per bucket) and laundry soap (1 piece).
This solution should be sprayed on areas with infected plants 1-2 times a week .
Another effective way to combat this pest can be to plant some types of plants on the site, for example black cohosh (commonly called black cohosh).
REFERENCE! This plant effectively repels most types of bedbugs and some other pests; moreover, this species is very beautiful and can serve a decorative function.
Another effective way to exterminate bedbugs is to install a catching belt . A sticky strip wraps around the base of the tree trunk, where the soldier bug is most often found.
Products and chemicals
If folk methods did not help you get rid of the uninvited guest, then it’s time to move on to stronger means. One of the most harmless products for your garden is the drug “Bankol” . It can be purchased at any garden supply store. It will help get rid of adults and larvae, as well as many other types of phyto pests.
ATTENTION! Any chemical is harmful to humans, so you need to strictly follow the instructions, observe the processing time, and after using the drug, do not allow children and pets to the treated areas, do not be there yourself, and use protection during processing (gloves, a raincoat and a respirator). This drug should be used to spot treat infected areas of crops.
You can also use more serious insecticides, such as Karbofos and Aktara.
Natural enemies
The soldier bug has a gland on its back that produces an unpleasant-smelling secretion, a warning color and a bitter taste; therefore, it is not the most attractive delicacy, so a bird can only eat a bug very rarely.
This representative of hemipterans is quite large, so it also has no enemies among insects, except that ants may not disdain a dead bug. However, interspecific cannibalism occurs in the order Hemiptera, especially during the wintering period. Therefore, we can say that the natural enemies of soldier bugs are themselves and humans.
When does the insect appear and where does it live?
Usually the soldiers appear as soon as the sun melts patches of snow to the ground, but here and there there is still crust, and in the thawed patch the soldiers are already scurrying around, huddled together. The primary habitat of the soldier is Eurasia, and the European continent is most preferable for him.
Interesting . The pest, although it is very similar to a beetle and has the closest structure to it, will not fly up like a ladybug from your finger, but rather crawl down and go down to the ground or simply fall - it cannot fly at all, individuals of any age have this possibility deprived.
Larva of the soldier bug. © Genealogist
Mating of soldier bugs
Prevention
The invasion of these pests can be easily avoided. You just need to prepare the site in advance and follow a few simple rules. Firstly, it is very important to remove weeds in a timely manner and trim the lawn at least once a month; it is advisable to burn all cut and torn grass in order to avoid the spread of the bug, if there are already ovipositors in the grass.
Secondly, it is necessary to uproot old stumps, because this is where the Cossack often settles. You also need to install a fishing belt at the base of the trees in advance. It is necessary to plant legumes separately from other crops, as they often become the starting point of infection, since they are a refuge for Cossacks during the harsh winter months. It is also worth treating the wintering areas of these insects annually with an insecticide (you can use dichlorvos).
What kind of life does the wingless red bug have?
Toy soldiers are terrestrial representatives of the family. They are one of the first to wake up after hibernation. Already in March, as soon as the snow melts, they can be seen at the base of linden trees. Red bugs have no natural enemies, so they do not hide and lead an open lifestyle.
The bright red color of insects warns predators of their unpleasant taste, so the soldier bug is reliably protected from predatory insects and birds.
Insects are active from March to September-October; with the first frost they go into hibernation. In winter, soldiers hide under the bark of trees, in the cracks of stumps and under piles of leaves.
Insects live in colonies. At the beginning of summer they have a small number, but by the end of autumn the colony can number tens of thousands of individuals.
The lifespan of bedbugs and their fertility may vary depending on living conditions. Temperature has a particularly noticeable effect.
What do soldiers eat?
They have a mixed type of nutrition. Insects suck the juice from plants, fruits and seeds that have fallen to the ground. Larvae and adults feed on organic debris, in particular, the corpses of invertebrates.
The diet of wingless red bugs includes dead insects - beetle larvae, wasps, aphids. Soldiers take the main part of their food from the ground; they can also climb plants.
Soldiers are absolutely safe for humans and pets.
Soldier bug: reproduction
Reproduction of soldier bugs
A feature of these insects is incomplete metamorphosis, i.e., there is no pupal stage in their life cycle. In the spring, the soldiers mate. In each colony there are 2-3 times more males than females. To reproduce, males are attached with their bellies to females and in a clutch, with their backs to each other, move around for several hours and even days.
The copulation process lasts so long (from 0.5 to 7 days) because this is a mechanism for protecting the male’s ejaculate in conditions of fierce competition.
The female lays eggs in the ground or under a layer of dead plants. The eggs of soldier bugs are oval in shape and white translucent in color. The female lays about 20-30 eggs.
Embryonic development lasts 1-1.5 weeks under normal conditions. If the temperature is below +18°C, then this phase can last up to 3.5 weeks. At the end of this period, the eggs change color and become yellow-red.
In low temperature conditions, the eggs decrease in size, and therefore the larvae from them emerge small. Such larvae often become prey to larger relatives.
In total, the larvae go through 5 stages. They can take 17-24 days to mature. If the temperature drops below +14-15°C, then the nymphs stop feeding and, therefore, stop developing. In appearance they are similar to adults, but the larvae do not have elytra.
In the northern regions, one generation changes per year, and in the southern regions, two. Nymphs that appear in May become sexually mature in June and begin to mate and reproduce. In autumn, adults of the second generation leave for the winter.
How to get rid of a pest?
The soldier beetle causes irreparable damage to some plants, from which they die almost immediately. Pests should be destroyed in the spring, when their number is not so large and the crop has not yet been damaged. At this time, you can try to simply collect the bedbugs by hand. This method is effective in small garden plots; it requires patience. The procedure should be repeated for several days in a row.
As a preventative measure, it is recommended to plant cultivated plants away from perennial legumes and alfalfa. It is on them that insects most often spend the winter. Beetles like to lay larvae on legumes and weeds, so mow their bushes periodically. It is advisable to remove alfalfa and wild herbs at the root.
An additional precaution would be to plant black cohosh (cohosh) in a garden plot. This flower belongs to the ranunculaceae family, it has large leaves, beautiful white inflorescences
This allows it to be used not only as a repellent for red bugs, but also as an ornamental plant to decorate the site. The smell of black cohosh will help drive soldier soldiers and some other garden insects away from the area.
We suggest you familiarize yourself with Laxative for colon cleansing
A prerequisite for preventing the reproduction of beetles will be the removal of rotting wood from the garden, which often becomes a place where soldiers gather. It is better to install special hunting belts on living trees, which you can make yourself. To do this, cut corrugated cardboard 25 centimeters wide across the grooves, grease it with glue and apply glass wool up to one and a half centimeters thick on it. Secure the finished product to the tree trunk with wire.
If the soldier nevertheless takes a fancy to your beds and begins to destroy the crop, then you can resort to spraying the plants. It can be carried out with various special compounds or folk remedies.
- Insecticide "Bankol" is a Japanese drug in powder form that is used to combat the Colorado potato beetle. The product is non-toxic to people, animals, and beneficial insects, such as bees. The composition does not have a strong odor, does not accumulate in the soil, and requires treatment of plants in hot weather. Dilute 5–7 g of powder in 10 liters of water and spray the plants according to the instructions.
- Onion infusion - pour 200-250 g of onion peel into 10 liters of water, let it brew for 5 days. Strain the liquid and spray the plants at five-day intervals.
- Mustard or ash solution – dilute 100 g of dry mustard or ash in 10 liters of water to a thick consistency and spray the crops with the resulting liquid.
- Soap composition - dilute 300 g of soap in 10 liters of water and spray the seedlings with this solution. You can use liquid soap. Another method involves processing a trimmed area of the garden. Sprinkle the soil with soap flakes, fill it with water, and place a thick cloth on top. When the soap begins to dissolve, the soldiers and other insects will try to hide on the fabric, at which point it can be rolled up along with the beetles and destroyed.
To get rid of a pest bug, it is enough to take confident preventive actions in time. Coat tree trunks with lime solution and dig up the ground near them. The soldier beetle does not like shade, so shrubs near the lawn will repel it. Do not over-fertilize the soil; if possible, attract birds to the garden plot, who will happily feast on bugs.
Harm from soldiers
These bugs can be called both agricultural helpers and pests. They lay eggs in plants, which the larvae feed on until they grow up. The first to appear in the spring are weeds that actively eat these insects. This is exactly what they do to help people. However, pretty soon the weeds disappear, the first shoots of various crops appear (carrots, beets, cabbage, coriander, greens, and so on), and the soldiers switch to them. One insect does not create any problems for plants, even such weak ones as parsley and coriander, and a large colony of them can leave cabbage, carrots and beets without a harvest.
Soldier bugs very often feed on the juice from the buds of various plants, considering it the most tasty and nutritious. Because of this, the flowers do not receive the required amount of microelements, they do not develop, and as a result the plant does not bear fruit. This is what soldiers do to harm agriculture and, although there are more dangerous pests, they must be gotten rid of as soon as they are discovered on the site: a couple of bugs in a matter of weeks will turn into a huge colony that will leave you without most of the harvest.
They do not cause any other harm to humans, since they cannot live indoors and do not bite humans (simply because they have nothing to eat).
How to deal with red bug in the garden
A settlement of wingless red bugs can destroy the entire harvest of various crops in a small area, so these insects must be combated, even when their numbers are small. Methods of combating them can be divided into chemical and folk.
Chemical methods of combating soldier bugs
Chemical agents include various insecticides that affect the insect upon contact, penetrating under the chitinous cover and disrupting the functioning of the digestive and nervous systems. Most often, pests die due to paralysis. These products are safe for humans and warm-blooded animals and only affect insects.
The most commonly used drugs are:
- karbofos, insects develop immunity to many products, but they don’t have time to respond to it - after the first treatment it destroys almost the entire pest population, after the second no one remains alive, it is safe for people, animals and plants,
- actellik, the product evaporates and enters the insect’s body in the form of steam, safe for people, animals and plants, but harmful to insects,
- actara, the substance is able to penetrate the leaves of plants, with the juice of which it enters the body of pests, does not enter the fruits, has a nerve-paralytic effect on insects, is safe for humans and animals,
Other insect repellents can be used, but the ones mentioned above are the most popular because they are very effective and at the same time safe for plants and people. should be remembered that all insecticidal agents are dangerous for bees.
Folk remedies
Some people do not want to use chemicals, considering them unsafe for plants and crops. And some have bees, and the use of insecticides will kill these insects, so people use various folk remedies and, judging by the reviews, they are quite effective.
So, what exactly does traditional “medicine” offer in the fight against red bug:
- plant black cohosh (aka stinky), this is a plant of the buttercup family, the above-ground part of which has a sharp, terrible odor, which drives away bedbugs,
- prepare a decoction of their onion peels: place clean, dry onion peels in a saucepan and fill it with cold water (approximately twice as much in volume as the peels), bring to a boil and then “cook” over low heat until the color of the decoction is will turn brown, after the broth has cooled, it needs to be sprayed on the plants, insects will drive away the unpleasant odor, harmless to plants,
- prepare a solution of wood ash in the same way as a solution of onion peels, and when it cools, spray the plants with it,
Some people collect these bugs and remove them from their property. This is also a good way, but after some time they will return or their offspring will appear, which hatched from eggs in some tree.
Bioindicator
After hatching, the larvae feed on plant juices, preferring young shoots. Their proboscis is more delicate than that of adults, and it cannot pierce anything harder. And if these bugs do not harm agricultural crops, they can cause damage to seedlings of green crops, cabbage and beets.
You can scare soldiers away from the garden using folk remedies: for example, planting black cohosh (cohosh) on the plot or spraying cultivated plantings with an infusion of onion peels, wormwood, and mustard powder.
However, according to biologists, these insects also have benefits.
Tamara Akinshina
Maliciousness
The soldier bug is not officially classified as an agricultural pest. In nature, the biological significance of the wingless red bug is similar to the function of other “cleaners.” Insects process fallen seeds, fruits, and organic debris. Their actions are beneficial. But having settled on a personal plot, insects happily switch to feeding on juicy strawberries, cabbage seedlings, beet tops and carrots. They spoil the leaves of seedlings and seedlings in nurseries.
Like all bugs, soldier bugs pierce the surface of leaves or fruits with their proboscis and suck out the juice. They cause noticeable harm to vineyards, spoiling the presentation of the berries.
Signs of malicious activity:
- deformation of tops of carrots, beets, dill;
- yellow spots on cabbage leaves;
- drying of berries;
- young seedlings lag behind in development.
Description
The bug is medium-sized - 7-12 mm long. The body is oblong, the back has a characteristic black and red ornament, distinguishing it from other insects. The top and bottom of the abdomen are black with a red rim, the chest is black with red edges. The eyes are red. The hind wings are usually absent. The mouthparts are piercing-sucking, in the form of a proboscis.
How to get rid of wood bugs - wood bug
Not every person knows what a tree bug looks like, but if he hears the popular name - stink bug, he will immediately understand who we are talking about. This insect usually lives outdoors, but is also found in apartments and offices. Let's look at how easy it is to get rid of this parasite.
What does a wood bug look like and what does it eat?
The stink bug reaches no more than 15 mm. Throughout its life, it changes its color, thereby hiding well in the foliage. The young pest is green. In mid-summer, brown spots appear on the shell, and in the fall it completely turns brown. The insect emits a specific unpleasant odor when it is pressed down. See what the parasite looks like at different periods of life in the photo. We can say that this species is a pest only of deciduous crops. It feeds on foliage, its juice and the juice of cultivated fruits. If the shield bug ends up in the apartment, it becomes defenseless. He himself will try to get rid of the unusual environment.
Wood bug
This insect is also called the forest insect. It feeds on plant juice, berries, some plants and the remains of other insects. The shell of this insect is quite durable; it is what protects it from the external environment. It is necessary to fight the stink bug only when it causes damage to agricultural estates. It is not difficult to get rid of it, only if not the entire swarm has arrived. For humans, stinkers are not dangerous, but on the contrary, they are useful. Since ancient times they have been used to treat alcoholism. Where does the wood bug live, you ask. It is occupied in forests and near water bodies.
Red wood bug
This type of parasite is perhaps the most attractive. It looks like an ordinary stink bug, only its shell is striped. It is painted red with black stripes along it. At one time it was called the Italian pest due to its color. It also feeds on plant materials, and in an apartment it becomes harmless. These insects are dangerous only for agriculture. Wormwood will help get rid of them.
Red wood bug
The red-haired parasite looks more terrifying than at a young age. It can appear in an apartment by accident and will not harm a person in any way, besides spoiling the air. It also feeds on leaves and their juice. Red insects are less dangerous due to their age. Since they are only interested in foliage, which disappears in the fall, the parasite itself becomes weakly active. This stink bug lays light green eggs. During the season, the female is able to bear 3 offspring. They need to be dealt with in such numbers if all the hatched insects remain in one place. Some plants and a soap solution will help get rid of it in the garden.
Do tree bugs bite?
Only the bed parasite bites people. The described species has only a proboscis; its jaws are not intended for biting. Only if it is in danger of death can it sting.
What to do if bitten by a wood bug
Their bites are not dangerous to living creatures. Redness may appear; surgical assistance is not needed; it is enough to treat the area with alcohol.
Wood bugs for alcoholism
Before you try to get rid of parasites, learn about their benefits. Green bugs will cure alcoholism. Collect a handful of green specimens and pour a liter of alcohol. Close the lid tightly and leave for at least 10 days. Add 1 tbsp. l. tinctures in the patient's drink. After a few days the person will no longer be able to drink alcohol. Therefore, it is better to fight alcoholism than to fight green guests.
How to get rid of wood bugs in an apartment, house and balcony
In the apartment the parasite turns out to be no harm. Usually before the onset of cold weather, when the insect is looking for a warm corner. It never eats human food, and once on it it will leave a bad smell. You can get rid of a few stink bugs by simply throwing them out the window. Invasion of forest dwellers in a house is an extremely rare occurrence. When this happens, use regular dichlorvos against flies.
Wood bugs in the apartment: how to get rid of them
You can remove the population manually by collecting and crushing them. There will be a smell, but not that strong. You can also fight it with a universal insect repellent. Regular Reid aerosol will do. This insect will leave the unusual environment on its own and will not leave eggs in the apartment. Therefore, there is no need to call the SES.
Anti-wood bug remedy
The following remedies will help fight uninvited guests: 1. Xulat Micro 2. Delta Zone 3. Get 4. Clean House 5. Dichlorvos
When you don’t know how to kill wood bugs, we advise you to choose not very toxic drugs, because these pests are very vulnerable to chemicals. It is easy to fight them using folk methods.
