How to fight the Ferretti or Elateridae and Mole Cricket

Ferretti  (Elateridae) are insects that are very present in agriculture, capable of causing considerable damage to young seedlings of vegetables, tubers, pumpkins, watermelons, melons and all those fruits that complete their cycle resting on the earth or inside the earth. These insects prefer loose soils rich in organic matter: the larvae, in fact, feed first on organic residues and then on hypogeal organs and roots, causing erosion and deep tunnels on the latter , with lesions that often cause rot.

The Grillitalpa is an orthoptera insect of the Mole cricket family (Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa). It is a polyphagous insect, which infests vegetable gardens, gardens, nurseries and protected crops; It feeds at the expense of the roots and taproots it encounters in the ground as it digs its tunnels

Index

Elateridae: biological control of soil insects

How do you fight the mole cricket?

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Elateridae: biological control of soil insects

To date, many of the chemical molecules allowed and used in agriculture until recently are no longer allowed and the few conventional insecticides left on the market are no longer able to guarantee maximum effectiveness.

Even in the case of the fight against ferret larvae, our team's advice is to use products allowed in organic farming and with a very low environmental impact. 

Since these larvae are even capable of piercing the irrigation hoses, it will be essential to proceed with a contrast action only in fertigation, before and after planting. 

You can therefore proceed with 2 interventions 45 days apart. We recommend proceeding with this intervention in early spring and early autumn, always keeping the soil moist. However, it will be possible to repeat the interventions as needed:

The first intervention involves the use of a mixture composed of

• Klozer (dosage: 3l/ha), inoculation of mycorrhizal fungi, including Metarhizium Anisopliae and Beauveria Bassiana. The spores of these fungi live at the expense of the cuticle of the target insects. After piercing it thanks to special hyphae and germinating inside them, the spores are able to kill the target insect in no time.
• Carbogen L (dosage :3l/ha), mycorrhizal activator

The second intervention involves the use of

• Klozer (dosage: 1.5lt/ha)
• Carbogen L (dosage: 3lt/ha)

Our advice is to prepare the mixture one day before administration. In this way, the mycorrhiza activator will make the fungi active from the moment the soil is introduced.

A further product of sure effectiveness against eleaterids  is the

• Larvanem (dosage: 5ml/100sqm of soil), entomopathogenic nematodes  that live at the expense of many larvae present in the soil. These nematodes penetrate the target's body through the orifices, feed and reproduce inside it, leading to death in no time.

To ensure the effectiveness of Larvanem, it is important to use it if you find an actual presence of larvae. In general, the periods of employment concern the months of September-October and those of March-April 

How can wireworms be eradicated from my garden or vegetable garden?

If you are a hobbyist and have problems with wireworms in your garden or vegetable garden, you can use the same strategy that we proposed in the previous paragraph. Remember that the most suitable times of intervention are those between the beginning of spring and the beginning of autumn. However, since it is a biological strategy, you can intervene at different times, depending on the need.

What dosage should you proceed with?

Suppose, for example, that you have 100 m2 of land. The respective doses to be used will be:

• Klozer (30g/100m2)
• Carbogen L (30g/100m2)

Then proceed to dilute the mixture thus obtained in a sufficient amount of water, so that the solution can be distributed evenly over the entire surface.

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How to eliminate the Mole Cricket

For the containment of this insect , it is important to carry out tillage that aims to destroy the eggs laid by the adults, before the mole cricket larvae come out.

Mole cricket: remedies

A valid and effective alternative fight to the use of chemicals is the use of a mixture of sustainable products allowed in organic farming to be used in fertigation (a single intervention may be sufficient): 

• Klozer (dosage: 3lt/ha)
• Carbogen L (dosage: 3lt/ha)

As with the fight against Elaterids, we recommend preparing the mixture at least 24 hours before use. 

If you are a hobbyist, you can proceed with the mixture of these two products, following the dosage and precautions that we have suggested in the previous paragraph