Harmful And Beneficial Crop Insects
Insects are those organism which are easily seen in our crops. We can see different kinds of insects in different kinds of crops and different seasons.
Different kinds of insects are seen in different stages of growth of crops. I.e. Some insects are seen in seedling stage and they change on growth, flowering and fruiting stage.
Some insects are able to fly and some doesn’t fly. Some are harmful to crops and other are beneficial to crops.
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| Harmful and Beneficial insects |
In this blog we have provided list of insects which helps in identification of beneficial and harmful insects in our crops.
Why identification of insects is necessary?
Some people can’t differentiate harmful and beneficial insects. Sometimes they might kill beneficial insects and preserve harmful insect.
◾To know which pesticide is to be applied in crop field.
◾Insects plays important role in crop production.
◾Beneficial insects helps in pollination and increase our crop productivity.
◾Harmful insects feeds on our crops and destroyes them.
When To Control Insects?
◾Insects should be controlled as soon as they are seen because at earlier stage their number is very less and natural(organic) way of controlling pests can eliminate them from our crops.
◾Seed treatment should be done before sowing.
◾Soil treatment should be done before cultivation of crops.
◾Natural insect trappers like yellow sheets and green sheets right after sowing.
Insects Beneficial To Crops
| 1. | Lady Bug |
| 2. | Bees |
| 3. | Spiders |
| 4. | Earthworms |
| 5. | Green Lacewings |
| 6. | Dragon fly |
| 7. | Hoverflies |
| 8. | Bettle |
| 9. | Wasp |
| 10. | Mantis |
This is list of all beneficial insects. Here, we have discussed 5 beneficial insects in detail.
1.Lady Bug(Bettle)
Lady Bug is beneficial to crops as it feeds on other harmful insects like aphids and mealy bugs. They also feeds on pollens of flower and can ultimately helps in pollination.
Lady bug can feeds up to 50 different types of harmful pest and their lifespan is about 1 year.
Lady Bug is also considered as the best friend of gardener.
✔️Identification:- Red or Orange Colour with black spots.They have wings and are round shaped.
2.Bees
Bees are most important insects among all. Bees pollinates about 90 different varieties of crops. They feeds on nectar of flowers.
To collect about 30 Kg of honey, Bees pollinate about 140 million flowers.
About 1/3rd of food consumed by human is pollinated by bees.
The whole Almond production all around the world is due to Bees.
Without bees, world may suffer from starvation. So, we need to protect them as their population is declining at rapid pace.
✔️Identification:- They are generally black in colour, has white stripes in their abdomen and fly creating hmmmmmm sound.
3.Spiders
We all have probably seen spiders and some of us are really scared of them as some are poisonous and dangerous to human also.
But, let me tell you some spiders are very beneficial to our crops. Spiders feeds on aphids, caterpiller, beetles.
The web of the spiders acts as natural trap for different flies which harms our crops.
✔️Identification:-They have six legs and are hairy in abdomen.
4.Earthworms
Earthworms are super beneficial to our crops. They are also called as “farmers friend”. They loosen the soil and helps plants to grow faster and healthier.
They feeds on soil and ejects vermi-cast which is very very rich in enzymes and nutrients. They feeds half of their body weight in one day.
people buy them and use in their field to increase their production.
✔️Identification:- They have long body with a clitellum and lives under surface.
5.Green Lacewings
They feeds on large range of harmful organisms and acts like predators. They feeds on aphids, mites, white flys, Caterpiller.
✔️Identification:- They have clear transparent wings and are green in colour.
Insects Harmful To Crops
| 1. | Aphids |
| 2. | Caterpiller |
| 3. | Grasshoppers |
| 4. | Fruitfly |
| 5. | Slug and snail |
| 6. | Fall armyworm |
| 7. | Cabbage butterfly |
| 8. | White grab |
| 9. | Weevil |
| 10. | Whitefly |
This is list of all Harmful insects. Here, we have discussed in detail.
1.Aphids
Aphids are small insects which sucks sap from our plants. Thier number doubles within a week. They attack leaf, stem, buds and many other part of crops.
✔️Identification:- They can be Green, Yellow, Red or Black in colour
✔️Control:- They should be control at initial phase. Neem oil can sprayed to control aphids. Different types of pesticides are also available in market to control aphids.
2.Caterpiller
These are the larval stage of butterflies. They feeds only on leaves. Their whole task is to eat. As they feeds on leaves the photosynthetic efficiency decreases.
✔️Identification:- They have many round segments in body. Their colour cam be green, grey, yellow, black and mix of them.
✔️Control:- Picking and throwing and using soapy water. Other pesticides are also available.
2.Grasshopper
Grasshopper mainly feeds on leaves but some varieties feeds on fruits, vegetable and seeds also.They have biting and chewing type of mouth.
Some varities of grasshopper like Locusts travels in group of millions called swarms which can empty our field crops within a hour.
✔️Identification:- They are of different colour like green, brown, light green in colour. They lives in groups and have wings.
✔️Control:- We can use different pesticides to control grasshopper.
3.Fruit Fly
They are very dangerous for fruits. They causes rottening of fruits which can lead to great loss to crops. They lay eggs inside fruit and increase their number.
✔️Identification:- They are of different colours like black, brown, red and has bright red eyes. They also have anteena and wings.
✔️Control:- Mainly Traps like malathion traps are uses to control fruitfly. Other different types of sprays and insecticides are available to control them.
4.Slug and snail
They are generally seen on rainy season. They feeds on young leaves of plants. They doesn’t cause much harm to plants.
Identification:-Slug are long whereas snail are small amd lives under their shell. They have soft and moist skin.
Control:- We can control them by using soap water and vinegar.
5.Fall-armyworm
Fall armyworm has become one of the most disasterous insect for crops. They feeds on maize. The maize crop production reduces by (20-30)% by their attack. They are voracious feeders and can double their number within 6 days.
✔️Identification:- They have 4 dots in 8th segments, Inverted Y shape near head and white lines.
✔️Control:- They can be control by biological, chemical and physical method which you can learn from the article below.