Blind hen: symptoms and treatment

Today we are going to talk about a pest that causes damage to different crops. Is about blind manPhyllophaga spp.) They are well-developed larvae capable of destroying the entire root system of a plant in just a few days. Since chemical products are sometimes used excessively to control blind hen, it is necessary to carry out an integrated management where the damage caused is eliminated.

If you want to know how to recognize this plague and get rid of it, just keep reading seguir

Symptoms of the plant

To recognize that a plant is affected by blind man's buff, we will see its state. The most obvious symptoms are yellowing foliage, plant death, wilting, etc. The problem with this pest is that when the damage caused is detected it is too serious.

The larvae develop at a depth of 10 to 15 cm and go through three instars, whose average duration is greater than 9 months, which depends on the conditions of the environment and the species.

Treatments

There are several ways to treat plants affected by this pest.

• Integrated management and monitoring: The first thing is to carry out a study of the area to know the incidence of the plague. In the case of the blind man's buff, preventive studies can be done. The time to carry out this monitoring is in the rainy season when there is more humidity. A trap is prepared with water, yeast, mashed banana and a little detergent. This serves to kill them as they reach the plant. So we can see the corpses and know that the plague is attacking our crops.
• Chemical control. The seed that we grow can be sprayed with insecticides so that the pest does not come near. This also works for other types of insects. This protection lasts for about 20 days. After that, you will have to use granulated insecticides in the soil, since they attack the roots.
• Biologic control. Entomopathogenic fungi and bacteria can be used to control blind fowl larvae. These are Beauveria bassiana, Metarhizium anisopliae, Bacillus popilliae and Heterorhabditis bacteriophorarespectively.
• Cultural control. A soil or fallow scan can be done to expose blind fowl larvae to sunlight. They will also be exposed to bird attack.

I hope that with these tips you can get rid of this plague.