A sad story familiar to many: for no apparent reason seedlings and young seedlings wither in the beds, seedlings die fruit trees, and someone chewed root crops right in the ground. The most probable cause of the disaster is that a bear has started up in the garden - an underground inhabitant and a malicious pest of exemplary sites.

Bears ignore the poor, heavy soil, but they feel great on fertile, humus-rich lands, where they actively reproduce and do not leave their new place of residence without outside help... It is important to imagine what a bear is dangerous and what it looks like: a photo and description of how to fight and properly take preventive measures should be known to every gardener and gardener.

What does a bear look like

These insects are completely unlike bears, and got their name for their brown color and some awkwardness of movements. Bears belong to the order Orthoptera, their closest relatives are crickets, grasshoppers and locusts, and bear bear resembles these insects. The stories of gardeners about pests, 10 and even 15 cm long, are greatly exaggerated, usually bears grow no more than 5 - 8 cm in length with wings.

The elongated body of the insect consists of the cephalothorax, abdomen, two pairs of legs, as well as long wings and well-developed elytra. Wingless specimens are extremely rare. The soft, fusiform abdomen is 3 times larger than the cephalothorax, and has a thickness of about 1 cm. The strong chitinous shell partially hides and reliably protects the insect's head and it will not work to crush the bear with your hands like a bug.

The folded wings look like thin, translucent scales that extend beyond the abdomen. Fragile in appearance, they allow insects to fly at a height of no more than 5 m. Bears do not know how to jump like grasshoppers and crickets, but their front legs are greatly modified and perform an excellent digging function. In the back of the body, paired filamentous outgrowths - cerci, about 1 cm long, are clearly visible.

The head of the bear is decorated with a pair of large faceted eyes and long antennae - antennae. The mouth apparatus of the gnawing type is equipped with a frightening-looking tentacles, for which the people often call the insect an earthen crayfish.

The upper side of the bear's body, including the cephalothorax, is painted in a dark brown protective color, lightening on the sides and turning into pale olive on the lower body and limbs.

Bears spend most of their lives underground, so even experienced gardeners rarely meet insects face to face, but reveal their presence by other characteristic signs.

Lifestyle

Medvedki are the oldest inhabitants of the planet, the fossil remains of some species that lived on the territory of modern Europe are about 30 million years old. These insects are extremely tenacious and easily adapt to any habitat, therefore they are found everywhere.

Today the bear family includes about 110 species, among them the common bear, which is found in Eurasia and North Africa, is the most widespread. The favorite habitats of the bear are fertile plains warmed by the sun, sandy soils and garden plots well fertilized with manure. These insects avoid deserted, dry places and in dry years try to stick to coastal areas.

All their lives, the bears have been actively laying underground tunnels where they live and reproduce, so among experienced gardeners you can hear another name for an insect - a cricket - a mole. Underground passages are located at a depth of 10 - 15 cm and consist of burrows and numerous passages - branches that can pass through a network throughout the site. On the one hand, a kind of loosening improves the aeration of the soil, but breaking through the passages, the bears severely damage and gnaw the roots of plants, so the ratio of benefit and harm from these insects is determined by their number in a certain area.

Life cycle

The nests of the bear resemble an earthen lump, they are located under the very surface of the earth, their tops have characteristic elevations so that the masonry is better warmed up by the sun's heat. With the onset of spring, the mating season begins in insects and lasts until early July. The female lays in her nest several hundred yellow or brownish eggs, round in shape, with a diameter of about 3.5 mm.

Nest with eggs of the common bear.

After 3 - 4 weeks, larvae are born, which look like adults, but are light brown in color and have wing buds. Bears stay in the larval stage from 2 to 4 years, depending on the region and food supply, undergoing 4 molts during this time. Insects spend winter at a depth of more than 2 m, as well as in manure or compost. Bears are extremely gluttonous and omnivorous, the diet of larvae and adults is made up of root crops, various insects, their eggs and larvae, as well as earthworms.

The number of bears in any garden directly depends on the presence of other animals that can significantly reduce the population of uninvited guests.

Natural enemies of the bear

Well-fed sluggish insects are easy prey for many feathered hunters: rooks, starlings and even crows are not averse to launching their long beak into the ground and fishing for a couple of bears for breakfast.

A white-breasted kingfisher has caught a bear.

Other underground inhabitants are moles, they eat larvae and adults with pleasure, hedgehogs and lizards will not refuse the bear. Garden ants drag bear eggs into their nests, ground beetles destroy wingless larvae.

Unfortunately, garden orderlies cannot cope with an overgrown pest colony, and then it is time for the owners of the site to take the initiative into their own hands and start getting rid of the bear on their own.

Medvedka in the garden: the main signs

At first, the presence of a bear on the site may not even be noticed, then the activity of pests gives out a number of characteristic signs:

• swollen areas of land above the nests;
• paths - furrows in the beds, clearly visible after rain and watering;
• open entrances - holes in the burrow;
• unreasonable wilting of seedlings and seedlings;
• death of young seedlings;
• damaged roots.

A bear larva can destroy up to 15 young plants per day, and then the disaster takes on rampant proportions.

Control methods

Today gardeners and gardeners have at their disposal a whole arsenal of old folk methods for the prevention and control of earth crayfish, as well as a lot chemicals and devices to get rid of uninvited guests:

• dung traps;
• beer baits;
• soap and kerosene "baths";
• aromatherapy;
• onion shower;
• installation of wind turbines;
• sound scarers;
• insecticidal preparations.

Fighting insects that survived mammoths and dinosaurs is not easy. Adherents of ecological agriculture are advised to use the time-tested folk methods, and only in extreme cases switch to chemical preparations.

Traps

Target this method- creation of local places on the site favorable for the accumulation, reproduction and wintering of insects, their subsequent collection and destruction. The method is relevant both at the beginning of the summer cottage season and on the eve of the first frost.

The trap for a bear is a pit, no more than 50 cm deep and wide. The bottom is lined with polyethylene, manure mixed with straw is poured on top. Insects will not remain indifferent to such a place of residence: in the spring the females will occupy the pits and lay their eggs there, in the fall the bears will gather in the trapping pits for the winter.

After a month, the manure is checked for the presence of adults, their eggs and larvae. In the spring, polyethylene with its contents is removed and burned, with the onset of frost, manure with nests is simply scattered around the site: before wintering, the bears become lethargic, they can no longer take shelter and die at sub-zero temperatures.

Delicious bait

More humane method getting rid of the bear is tasty bait, an old effective way that at the same time allows you to reduce the number of snails and slugs on the site.

2/3 plastic bottles, tin or glass cans are filled with beer or fermented jam diluted in half with water and poured into the soil to the very brim. Attracted by the aroma of delicacies, insects enter the container and take their time back. In the morning, the owners get rid of the contents of the baits without any problems.

Soap, kerosene, vegetable oil

If it was possible to find an entrance to the underground labyrinth, it can be filled with a specially prepared solution. To do this, take 10 liters of water and add the following components to the container to choose from:
10 g laundry soap+ 50 g of washing powder;

• 100 ml of kerosene;
• 3 tbsp. l. vegetable oil.

The solution is poured into the inlet holes gradually, so that the liquid can penetrate into all the branches of the underground passages. Any of the prepared mixtures will be fatal for the bear and her offspring.

Aromatherapy and onion peels

It is surprising, but true: the bear does not tolerate some smells, and when it senses it, it tries to get away to a safe distance. Among the "incense" expelling the pest, it is recommended to use the following aromatherapy techniques:

• planting between plants and along the perimeter of marigold and calendula beds;
• fish giblets spread between rows and lightly sprinkled with earth (an extreme method, but effective);
• spruce twigs scattered over the site;
• alder shoots stuck into the beds at a distance of 1.5 m from each other;
• sprinkling the soil with a mixture from a bucket river sand and 1 glass of kerosene;
• watering the plants with a strong infusion of onion peels.

According to experienced gardeners, all these smells scare away a bear no worse than professional products.

Windmills and scarers

Homemade windmills are an old, proven method of fighting underground pests. Poles, up to 3 m high, are equipped with propellers made of thin sheet stainless steel and are located at several points in the garden. Medvedki do not tolerate specific sounds and vibrations from wind turbines and are in a hurry to get away ... to neighboring areas. Therefore, before installing the devices, it makes sense to inform the neighbors, as well as ask their opinion about the possible discomfort from the sounds emitted by wind turbines.

Ultrasonic Repeller - worthy alternative windmills, as well as a quiet and effective way to expel a bear from your site.

It is important to understand that traps, baits and windmills are advisable to use if the number of bears on the site is not critical. When all folk methods the struggle is exhausted, and the bear continues to eat the crop, the only way to get rid of the pests is to destroy it with the help of insecticides.

Chemical and biological ready-made preparations for the bear

The urgency of the problem of fighting the bear eloquently characterizes the variety of specialized drugs produced by domestic and foreign manufacturers. Powder and granular insecticides are completely ready for use and allow you to get rid of the bear once and for all.

Among the line chemicals the most popular are the following consistently demanded drugs:

• Anti-Medvedka: an effective micro-granule bait that destroys pests at any stage of development;
• Medvetox: a drug that is safe for soil and earthworms, destroys the bear, and at the same time garden ants;
• Medvetsid: a granular agent that has a detrimental effect on the bear within 3 hours after eating the bait;
• Rembeck: A proven long-acting drug that is also effective against garden ants and the May beetle;
• Boverin: bio-powder, causative agent of a disease caused by a muscardine fungus that enters the body of insects, causing them to die.

In addition to ready-made preparations, good old carbide helps in the fight against the bear. It is enough to lower 5 g of calcium carbide into the hole of the hole so that the acetylene formed as a result of the reaction with water fills the entire underground labyrinth of passages dug by pests.

It is easier to prevent any attack than to get rid of it for a long time, therefore, simple preventive measures will protect the garden from the bear and her gluttonous offspring.

Prophylaxis

As practice shows, deep digging of the soil in spring and autumn destroys the nests and passages of the bear, not giving the pests a chance to breed and settle for the winter.

One of the ways to prevent the bear from entering the site is to abandon the use of cow and horse manure, replacing them with chicken manure.

Seedlings with a compact root system can be protected from pests with a cut plastic bottle, which creates a kind of "armor" around the roots.

Planting chrysanthemums, calendula and marigolds in aisles - reliable protection from the bear. Insects do not like the smell of parsley, cilantro, onions and garlic.

Before planting, the roots of the seedlings are treated with Aktara and Prestige preparations, which reliably protect plants from pests and contribute to the growth of vegetative mass.

Attracting biological agents - birds and insectivores - the right way prevention of infection of the site with pests and a great chance to never know what the bear looks like and how dangerous it is.

Medvedka belongs to the order Orthoptera of the insect family. An adult grows up to 3.5-6 cm. It is an omnivorous pest. Earthworms, butterfly caterpillars, May beetles, dragonflies, pupae of various insects - all this is included in her diet. Medvedka damages all types cultivated plants and most of the wild, gnawing at their roots underground. She eats seeds, tubers, roots of adult plants, and young shoots, damaging not a few pieces, but destroying all the planted seedlings at the root.

What does a bear look like

The closest relatives of the bear are the cricket and the grasshopper, but she is not at all like them. What does a bear look like? She has very unusual view, the large abdomen makes up 2/3 of the whole body.

The powerful front part of the body consists of the connected head and chest, forming the cephalothorax. It is protected by a chitinous shell, where the bear is able to draw its head in case of danger. The abdomen is soft, with two shaggy outgrowths.

The first pair of the available 6 legs is intended for digging burrows under the ground and resembles the legs of a mole turned out with a thickened shin. The Latin name is translated into Russian as "cricket mole". Young individuals have undeveloped wings, while adults have real wings that allow them to fly. Adult insects are brown in color with a lighter abdomen; in young bears, the body is slightly lighter than in adults.

Reproduction of a bear

In the spring, when the soil warms up to 12 degrees Celsius, overwintered individuals come out of the ground. Like crickets, males and females of the bear chirp in the evening and at night to attract the chosen one.

The female digs a nest with dense walls and a rounded vault underground. In late spring and early summer, she lays 250 to 600 eggs in a prepared hole. You can find out what the eggs of a bear look like if you find such a nest and open it. There you can see eggs, small, like millet grains, 3-3.5 mm in size, yellowish-gray in color.

Since the bear's hole looks very unusual, it cannot be confused with anything. It is necessary to find it in the soil and destroy it before insects fill the entire area. The nest is so dense that, if found, you can pull it out of the ground with your hands, and it will retain its shape. The pest digs many tunnels in the ground that go under the surface of the soil in different directions, but from the nest to the surface the tunnel is dug along a spiral line, and to prevent the nest from being flooded, special outflows are made from the main tunnel. Thus, by the way the moves of the bear look, one can understand whether they lead to the nest or not.

What does a little bear look like

Before that, the larva molts 8-9 times. It is difficult to recognize it, since at the first age it looks not at all like an adult insect and not like representatives of subsequent ages. The larvae of this period are light, resemble spiders, but, unlike the latter, they have not 8 legs, but 6. They are blind and inactive, feed on the embryonic yolk in their goiter. After the first molt, the larvae feed on humus, then they switch to the main diet of adult bears.

After 25-30 days, the larvae leave the nest, and each outwardly looks the same as an adult bear, but smaller and without wings. The larva of the first instar reaches 15 mm, the second - 20, the third - 25, and the fourth (pronymphs) - 35 mm. Thus, by how the bear larva looks and what size it is, you can determine its age. At the beginning of autumn, the bear population consists of adult insects (adults) and larvae, predominantly 3-4 years old.

Where the bear hibernates

Adult bears and larvae hibernate in the soil in vertically arranged passages. Adults go to a depth of 1 meter, and larvae - up to 0.5 m. Overwintered larvae differ from adults by underdeveloped wings. After a few more molts, they become adults by the end of the second summer of their life. The number of molts depends on the climate of the place. In the more southern regions, molting is less, and development is faster.

Distribution area

The habitat is well-moistened soils, while it can swim, and dive, and fly, and also runs fast and perfectly digs underground passages. It prefers to settle near water bodies in flooded meadows, but can live far from water, avoiding only the driest places. Medvedka lives in all countries of the Eastern and Western Europe, except for the most northern regions, in all countries of Asia, America and North Africa.

This is a very ancient insect, which can be seen even by the way the bear beetle looks like. It should be noted that it is incorrect to call it a beetle, in entomology they are called representatives of the order of coleoptera, and the bear is a representative of the order of orthoptera. Given this circumstance, we can talk about what a bear insect looks like. They appeared on Earth more than 3 million years ago and during this time they have perfectly adapted to a very different conditions residence.

Chemical, agrotechnical and biological methods of destruction

By eating the larvae, the bear can reduce the number of May beetles and butterflies. In the wild, it provides enough benefits that it outweighs the damage done to plants. But, unfortunately, she quite often settles on cultivated lands, in gardens and greenhouses. It can appear and even overwinter in a manure heap or compost. If you use manure without letting it rot, the land will be infested not only by insects, but also by weed seeds.

Since in the cultivated areas, the harm from the bear is more obvious, over many centuries of farming, man has developed many different ways decrease in the number of insects.

Folk and mechanical methods of struggle

Among folk ways pest control is very effective methods... These include the use of decoctions different plants, planting plants that are not tolerated by pests, using traps. You can bury cans filled with water by 2/3 into the ground, a bear that gets there will not be able to get out on its own. They do not like the smell of some flowers, such as marigolds and chrysanthemums. In an interesting way scare off is the installation of wind vane on the site. Several of them can be fixed on thin poles. When they rotate, vibration is transmitted to the soil, and if there is a bear "beetle" there, it leaves the site.

The most ancient method is the mechanical destruction of the bear. Insects are manually collected and destroyed, traps are dug, manure is cleared of pests. All of them are very effective, but very time consuming and unpleasant, as the bear looks frightening. These methods are suitable for small areas.

Attracting natural enemies to the site

Usage natural enemies refers to not very popular methods, they do not bring the same moral satisfaction as mechanical ones, but they are the most logical. These methods include attracting birds, lizards, frogs to the site. Little bittern, starlings, rooks, as well as lizards and shrews feed on the bear. Often all of them are perceived on the site as uninvited guests, and many of them simply need to be protected, since the benefits of their presence are obvious.

What to do if bears appear on the site

The best methods are those that take into account the nature of the pest. In order to get rid of the bear, it is necessary in the spring and early summer to loosen the row spacing to a depth of 15-20 cm to detect and destroy insect nests. During the same period, dung heaps can be left to attract females, and when they arrange a nest there, scatter the manure and destroy the nests. In the fall, when the bear is looking for shelter for wintering, it is effective to dig holes in the ground with a depth of 0.5-0.7 m, filling them with manure. Such pits are attractive to them, they climb into the manure, and when frosts begin, the manure must be taken out of the pits and scattered on the soil surface. Both adult insects and larvae cannot stand the cold and die.

When setting up greenhouses, it is necessary to carefully scan the soil to find adult insects or nests, and trapping grooves must be dug around the greenhouse. From manure intended for greenhouses, you need to select and destroy a bear. Knowing what a bear looks like, you definitely will not lose sight of it.

Medvedka ordinary

Damages

Damaged forest species included willows, poplar, pine, spruce, oak, beech and eucalyptus; in addition, seedlings in nurseries and young plantings of apple, pear, plum and other fruits, citrus fruits, tung and tea bush, as well as the vine are damaged. It also harms vegetables, melons, industrial and other crops.

The nature of the damage

It gnaws at the roots and trunks of young trees and shrubs that are encountered on the way in the paths of the bear, laid in the process of feeding.

Harmfulness

Dangerous pest of seedlings in nurseries and young plantings; damages underground parts, which often causes the death of plants. Causes serious harm to seedlings in nurseries.

Spreading

Almost throughout the European part of Russia. There is especially a lot of it in the Caucasus. It is also found in Central Asia.

Preferred stations

Prefers sandy, sunlit soils on warm plains. Its habitat is confined to humid places, along rivers and other reservoirs, to places with high level groundwater... It avoids dry places and in dry years retreats to wet coastal soils. The danger of mass reproduction exists only in southern Europe. It is spread by transfer in compost, peat, soil and during transportation of planting material.

Generation

The development of the bear in central and southern Europe lasts 16-18 months, in northern Europe - 2.5 years.

Diagnostic signs

by phases of development.

Imago

Large dark brown insect, up to 5 cm long, with an elongated body, adapted to locomotion in the soil. Antennae bristle-shaped, short. Pronotum large, dense. The front legs are digging.

The mouth organs are directed forward. The front wings are short, leathery, the hind wings are long, fold in the form of bundles along the body, the cerci are long, hairy.

Eggs

ocher yellow, 2.6 mm long and 1.7 mm wide. Fecundity of females is 300-350 eggs, maximum 600 eggs.

Larvae

similar to adult insects, but wingless, at first they are light brown in color. Its length is 33-48 mm. As development progresses, more and more developed wings are observed.

Medvedka

Medvedka

Underground nest of the bear

Phenology

Medvedka leads a predominantly underground lifestyle and very rarely uses its wings. The soil inhabited by it is dug in all directions by its passages. Moving in the soil, it spreads the roots of plants on its way and feeds on them, causing harm, especially in nurseries. The summer passages of the bear go under the very surface of the soil, while in the winter it climbs to a depth of 1 m.

On light sandy soils in favorable climatic conditions, mating occurs already in March, on peat soils at the end of June, but mating usually occurs in April and especially in May. After mating, the female looks for a suitable place to build an underground nest at a depth of 15-25 cm. To a small cavity the size of a pigeon's egg, passages with a diameter of about the thickness of a finger are directed. The walls of the nest are covered with hardened ointment. During May - June, the female lays in a bunch of 200-300 eggs, of which whitish larvae emerge after 10-16 days, which then quickly turn brown. The larvae first stick together, and then creep in the soil in different directions and cause the same harm as an adult insect. Larvae develop for 12-14 months and hibernate together with adults. At first, they feed on tender roots and humus, later on thicker roots, earthworms, the larvae of some insects, etc. The ground parts of seedlings in nurseries are also often damaged. Most often, wilting and death of plants occurs in the beds above the nest or above the passages. For wintering, bears descend along passages located at right angles to the surface of the earth, into the depths of the soil, unattainable by frost, and often even to the surface of groundwater. The number of ages is different; the larva molts 5-10 times. The transformation of the larva of the last stage of development into an adult occurs in the second autumn, and the adult overwinters in the soil.

Detailed supervision

carried out from May to August by the method of excavation to establish the population of the soil by the pest, the structure and state of the population.

Control measures

Mechanical measures to combat the bear are reduced to the destruction of nests with its eggs. The timing of this event will be set according to local conditions. The eggs of the bear are extremely sensitive to the humidity of the environment and with a slight violation of the integrity of the nest, their contents dry out.

In the fall, heaps of straw or other plant residues mixed with manure are arranged, or even better, this mixture is poured into baskets or boxes dug into the ground. Masses of bears are taken there for the winter, and in the spring they are destroyed. It is also possible upon the offensive severe frosts scatter heaps or contents of boxes around the nursery, and the bears will die from the cold.

Possible chemical fight against the bear - burying poisoned baits into the soil. This measure is applied in early spring when the bear still has little food.

Soil dressing gives good results; the bear usually leaves such areas.

Medvedka, the name of this insect is well known to all gardeners, summer residents, gardeners, those who grow plants, and is familiar in a negative aspect. After all, a bear (she is a cabbage, she is a mole cricket) is a pest for many plants. What are the habits of this insect, what it looks like and how to deal with it, read about all this further in our article.

Where did the name "Medvedka" come from?

Bears got their name because of their appearance, large size, brownish-brown color and clawed front paws. All this gave a reason to compare this insect with a brown one.

The second name of the bear - "cabbage" was due to her love for young cabbage saplings. But the third name "cricket-mole" comes from the Latin "Gryllotalpa" (actually translated as "cricket-mole") and it is also not accidental. Medvedka bears similarities to the structure of the body and the ability to make sounds, and to the mole it is similar to its ability to burrow into the ground and extended brushes of its front paws, which facilitate digging of the ground.

Medvedka: description, structure, characteristics. What does a bear look like?

Bears are arthropod insects and are rather large (as for insects) in size. The length of the bear's body is from 3.5 to 5 cm. Above, her body has a brownish-brown color, below it is brownish-yellow. The body of the bear is covered with fine hairs.

Visual structure of the bear.

The head of the insect has a direct or prognathic position in relation to the body. The axis of the body coincides with the axis of the head. The mouth organs are powerful and forward-pointing jaws, and next to them are two pairs of tentacles.

The eyes of the bear are still large and clearly visible, they have a faceted structure and are located on the sides of the head. On the head itself there are small threadlike antennae.

The pronotum of the bear with lateral parts (lobes) that hang down is large and flat, it is distinctive feature this insect. The head and front of the body of this creature is covered with a dense chitinous shell, with its help the bear can push and compact the ground while digging holes. Thanks to him, she is somewhat reminiscent of cancer.

The abdomen of the bear is thick, it is 1 cm in diameter, and the anal and genital plates are located at its apex.

The bear's wings have as many as two pairs:

• The forewings are transformed into short leathery elytra, they are covered with thick veins. In length, they reach the middle of the abdomen.
• The hind wings of the bear are long, wide, transparent and membranous, with thin veins. In a calm state, they fold in a fan-like manner along the abdomen in the form of bundles. But during the flight of the cabbage, it is the rear wings that take the main part, while the front wings are involved only to a limited extent.

An interesting fact: it is by the venation of the elytra of the bear that you can distinguish males from females. The larvae of this insect lack wings.

And the bear also has as many as three pairs of limbs, and each of them consists of a basin, trochanter, thigh, tibia and a 3-segment tarsus. The hind feet are strong as they are designed for movement and for inside 1-4 spines are located. The forelimbs, somewhat reminiscent of pincers, are, in fact, a burrowing apparatus.

An interesting fact: the bear's hearing aid is located on the lower legs of the forelimbs, just like in grasshoppers, crickets and some other chirping insects.

What sounds does a bear make

The bear, like a cricket, is a "musical" insect capable of emitting chirping trills, which can sometimes be heard at a distance of up to half a kilometer. Sounds are made by rubbing the rigid anterior elytra against each other.

Trills of the bear serve communication between them, as well as a very important matter - the sexual reproduction of insects, since through the performance of "love serenades" males call females. Females, by the way, are also capable of chirping. The sound power of a bear is 1.4 mW, while that of a cricket is only 0.06 mW.

How long does the bear live

The lifespan of a bear is from three to five years.

What does the bear eat

All summer residents know that it is the bear that is the most common pest of vegetable, fruit, berry and horticultural crops. They damage roots, tubers, seeds, underground parts of plants, and sometimes eat young plants. Medvedki spoil potatoes, corn, beets, cabbage, tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplants, peppers, turnips, pumpkin, watermelons, melons, grapes and many other crops. In the south, exotic citrus fruits (oranges, tangerines, lemons), peanuts, cotton, and tea also suffer from them. In the forests, bears damage the roots of many trees: oaks, beeches, pines, etc.

But do not think that the bears are exclusively vegetarians (however, very harmful vegetarians), being omnivores, they also eat some living creatures: earthworms, dragonflies, beetles and some other smaller insects.

Where the bear lives

These insects live over a wide geographic range, almost everywhere in Eurasia (with the exception of the northern Scandinavian countries), in North Africa, in both Americas, in Australia. They are absent only in Antarctica and the northern arctic regions.

As a habitat, the bear is most fond of wet places: meadows, river floodplains. They usually live in underground passages, often found near irrigation canals, in wetlands.

The lifestyle of the bear (cabbage)

These insects prefer to lead a hidden and nocturnal lifestyle, hiding in their burrows during the day, and going out to hunt at night. Their presence at garden plot can be identified by winding, loosened earth rolls, small holes in the ground, and, of course, by healthy plants, which for no reason, no reason, suddenly begin to perish.

This is how the tunnels of the bear look.

It is at night that the bears are engaged in spoiling / eating plants, and in search of food they are able to fly long distances (usually they are attracted by bright light). They are also capable of not only flying, but also swimming.

Natural enemies of the bear

Of course, the bear has its enemies in natural conditions, among them rooks, starlings, crows, moles, ants (they pose a threat to bear larvae). Also among pets, the enemy of this insect harmful to the garden is, which can hunt and eat a bear like mice and rats, which is of great benefit to the economy.

Medvedka as bait for fish

For fishermen, this creature is great as bait for large fish, such as catfish. True, it is important that the bear herself is alive.

Types of bear, photos and names

Different types of bears practically do not differ among themselves, nor by appearance, no habits and way of life. They can be distinguished biologically only by their number. Next, we will describe in detail some of the common types of bears.

In fact, this is the most common species among these insects. Widely distributed in Europe (with the exception of Scandinavia), lives in several Asian countries and North Africa. Almost everything that we describe here about the bear, first of all, concerns the common bear.

It has a slightly smaller size than the common bear, the body length is 2.5-3.5 cm. It has a brown-yellow body color. Lives in the African tropics and subtropics, but in addition to the "Black Continent" is also found in South-East Asia and even on the Japanese islands.

This species is distinguished by its small size - from 1.9 to 3 cm. It inhabits both America, and it is believed that initially they were found only in North America, but gradually penetrated into South America.

In appearance, it is the exact counterpart of the common bear. As habitat, this species prefers the steppe area, lives in the steppe zone of our country to Ukraine, in the south of Russia, in Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and a number of other Middle Eastern countries.

Reproduction of a bear

The mating season for bears begins in spring, after their mass exodus from the burrows in which they hibernated. Moreover, the mating process itself takes place underground, in burrows. In the summer, offspring already appear.

Both the female and the male bear are carefully preparing for the appearance of future children, they dig complex and branched underground labyrinths and at a shallow depth (about 5 cm from the surface) create spherical nests 10 cm in diameter. In these nesting sites, the female bear lays from 300 to 600 eggs. All this time, the female does not move away from her eggs, maintaining the desired temperature and providing ventilation, for this purpose she now and then cleans the passages, eats up the roots of plants that cast shadows on the eggs, etc. All this is critically important for the survival of the offspring. The eggs of the bear themselves are somewhat reminiscent of millet grains, they are oval, yellowish-gray in color and no more than 2 mm in size.

After 10-20 days, larvae begin to hatch from the eggs of the bear, they are also nymphs, which are small gray six-legged wingless creatures. Otherwise, they look like adults. The first 20-30 days, the larvae are under the close protection of the mother, and at the end of this period, the female bear, who gave birth to abundant offspring, alas, dies. At this time, the larvae are already crawling through their holes, they themselves begin to dig their holes and look for food. Their development and transformation into a full-fledged adult takes from 1 to 2.5 years.

Where and how the bear hibernates

Bears overwinter (as well as their larvae) in soil, manure or humus. Moreover, in winter time they burrow several times deeper than in summer - sometimes to a depth of 100-120 cm from the surface.

How to deal with a bear

The struggle between this insect-pest and the gardener has been going on since ancient times, in the arsenal of the fight against the bear there are both time-tested folk remedies and modern facilities disinsection. Next, we will dwell on this in detail.

Chemical preparations for the bear

You can make a bait for her from steamed grains of corn, oats, barley, wheat or rye, not forgetting to add poison there. Previously, potent agents such as zinc phosphide and dust (DDT) were added to such baits. Now, for this, much safer special poisons are used exclusively for bears, for example, Medvetox, they do not harm the soil, earthworms, but only kill pests.

Ready-made bait can be purchased at a specialty store. It is optimal to introduce it into the soil in early spring, a week before sowing crops.

Agrotechnical measures

Agrotechnical measures, such as deep spring and autumn plowing, regular loosening of the soil, also help get rid of bears in the garden or garden plot.

Destruction of the bear by mechanical means

You can try to fight the bear and various mechanical means.

• Trap them in the manure pits. The fact is that they like to hibernate in manure. And when they gather in manure pit in winter, it should be scattered around the garden. Medvedki, who are there, will die from the cold. True, this is only true for places with cold climates.
• In the place where the bear congregates, dig a jar or bottle into the ground. Then pour beer there as bait. Having climbed there, the bears will no longer be able to get out.
• Put light traps for the bear - place the garden lights, and under them containers filled with water and kerosene. Since at night the bears fly into the light, hitting the lantern, they will fall into the liquid prepared for them.
• Minks made by pests can be filled with water with sunflower oil... The water will push them to the surface, and the oil will not let them breathe.

Fighting the bear with folk remedies

• - You can try to scare away the bear with unpleasant smells for them. These are published by: rotten fish, onion peels, wormwood, cloves of garlic and mint.
• You can also water the soil with diluted bird droppings. Chicken is also suitable.
• Plant plants that the bear cannot stand: garlic, chrysanthemums, perennial carnations.

Precautions when dealing with a bear in the garden

When using strong chemicals against the bear, you must remember to be careful. Instead, other plants, soil or pets should not be harmed.

• Gourmets of South-East Asia sometimes use these insects as a treat. Moreover, they are cooked fried, stewed, pickled, with the addition of seasonings or even without them.
• Sometimes the bear also brings some benefit, as it destroys the larvae of May beetles and some other insects that eat plants
• Oddly enough, there is a benefit from the bear in the field of pharmaceuticals. This is how a powder is made from it, which goes as one of the components for a medicine for tuberculosis.

Medvedka video

And in conclusion, a small practical video on how to deal with a bear.

It seems that the directors were inspired to create many Hollywood monsters by the bear insect. And it is not surprising, because this relative of an ordinary domestic cricket, and in its natural size, terrifies many summer residents and gardeners, and even enlarged and embellished by workers of the film industry, even more so. The only ones who enjoy this garden monster are the fishermen. They say that catfish take well for a bear.

And here is what the bear looks like in high magnification in the photograph.

Medvedka - what is not a space monster from "horror"?

Biological characteristics of the insect

Classification

The common bear belongs to the family of the same name. In turn, higher in the hierarchy is the superfamily of crickets from the suborder Longwhiskers and the order Orthoptera.

Dimensions (edit)

The size of the bear against the background of many other insects is striking. In length, her body, not counting the mustache and cercus, reaches five centimeters. The thickness of the insect's abdomen is about one centimeter in diameter. The length of both the whiskers and the cercus is about ten millimeters.

Our help! Cerci are appendages at the end of the abdomen of some insect species. They are sensory organs, like those of a bear, or they are transformed into forcips, like in two-tails.

Description

Let's describe what a bear looks like. Her body consists of two sections:

• The cephalothorax, its size is about 12-15 millimeters, has a hard shell. The structure of this part of the body allows you to partially hide the insect's head under the shell.
• The abdomen is 30-35 millimeters long. At its base, a pair of wings is attached, in length often extending beyond its length. At the end of the abdomen - filamentous appendages - cerci.

The mouth apparatus of the bear is gnawing with powerful jaws capable of biting through the hard bark of root crops. An antennae and a pair of small short tentacles are located near the mouth.

The front legs are transformed into a kind of shovels, allowing the bear to easily dig holes in the soil. The hind legs, unlike grasshoppers or crickets, are simpler, they are not intended for insect jumping, but only for simple movement on the surface or within their own passages.

The bear's wings allow it to fly in warm weather, when the muscles are warm enough to do the job. True, the bear flies rarely and reluctantly, more often she chooses to move on the ground.

The color scheme of the bear's body is expressed in brown and brown tones. varying degrees intensity and tonality of coloring.

Where does the bear live?

Medvedka lives throughout mainland Europe with the exception of the countries of the Scandinavian Peninsula. Its varieties are found in Western and Central Asia, as well as in North Africa and the Caucasus.

In the countries of East Asia and Africa, the bear is used for food, like many other insects. They are an excellent protein supplement for plant foods. For those who want to get acquainted with an exotic dish, we offer a simple recipe.

Recipe! Preheated in a pan vegetable oil sauté the garlic for 5 minutes. Add the bear, grasshoppers and other locusts and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Bon Appetit! 🙂

In Russia, the bear (cabbage, as it is called in some areas) is found in almost the entire European part, excluding the northern regions.

As for habitats, the insect is found in soils warmed up by the sun, with predominantly moist soil. Therefore, she is so fond of soft warm beds irrigated by gardeners, especially in greenhouses and greenhouses. Often a bear can be found along the banks of water bodies, from where it is washed away by coastal waters. This is where the love of some predatory fish for such bait comes from.

Lifestyle

During the day, it is difficult to meet a bear, since it leads a predominantly underground lifestyle and is chosen mainly in dark time days.

In May-June, bears appear on the surface more often than usual. During this period, they reproduce, and instincts move insects to approach each other.

Insects live at a depth of up to 20 centimeters, and for wintering they can bury themselves in the soil up to one meter, although compost and manure heaps are favorite places for hibernation.

Moving on their own moves, they communicate with each other, or rather give signals to fellow tribesmen. What sounds does a bear make? Yes, the same chirping as that of grasshoppers, only amplified many times over. Biologists say that in this case, the insect releases up to 1.2 mW of energy, which is 200 times higher than that of a cricket. A person at night can hear the chirping of a bear from a distance of six hundred meters.

During the day, the bears chirp too, but less intensely. The fact is that birds feeding on these insects have learned to find them by sound, and in combination with daylight, such a hunt may be the most successful.

Reproduction

After the end of mating, the female lays over five hundred eggs in a previously prepared burrow. It looks like a huge earthen cocoon with big amount eggs.

In the middle of summer, young larvae appear from the eggs, resembling an adult insect, only with a less protected body and developed hind legs, like a grasshopper. In addition, the larvae are devoid of wings and are blind, like newborn kittens.

It may take from a year to two before the larvae turn into an adult. In this case, the insect passes from eight to ten molts, each of which prepares the nymph's body for adult life.

Thus, we see that in the development of the bear there is no pupal stage, and the larva, in fact, is the infant form of the imago. This type of insect development is called "incomplete transformation".

Our help! Insect larvae with incomplete transformation not only resemble adults in appearance, but their behavior and nutrition are similar to those of adults.

Nutrition and harm

What does the bear eat? The answer to this question seems to be simple, but also difficult at the same time. It would seem that if insects gnaw the roots of cultivated plants and eat up the roots of seedlings, then the answer is unambiguous, but it was not.

Still, many biologists are inclined that the main preference for the bear is given to animal food:

• worms;
• larvae of other insects;
• dead and live insects.

With regard to damage to root crops, this may be because. that the plant just met a bear on the way. This is supported by the habitation of these insects along the river banks, where root crops usually do not grow.

Is the bear dangerous for seedlings? Undoubtedly. The fact is that when digging its moves, the bear sometimes simply does not pay attention to the small roots and breaks through its tunnels directly through the places of their growth. This underground armored train will not turn off a sleeping siding to bypass such a minor obstacle as the root of a cabbage sapling.

Since the larvae of the bear, as mentioned above, are an exact copy of an adult insect, they feed on almost the same larvae and worms as their parents. The weaker gnawing apparatus does not allow the larvae to damage the roots, but the soft tender roots that meet on their way will supplement their diet.

Benefit

That's really, truly, the unexpected title of the chapter about the bear. However, even from such a terrible beast there is a benefit to man.

1. Medvedki, digging their passages, aerate the soil. Air, getting into the ground through their passages, brings oxygen there, which is necessary for the vital activity of microorganisms.
2. Medvedok is eaten, and dishes from them are considered delicacies in Thailand and other countries of East Asia.
3. Dried insects are used to make medicinal powders that help against tuberculosis and cancer.
4. The bear, like the grasshopper and locust, is an excellent bait for fishing. It is pecked by: catfish, burbot, chub, ide, barbel and other types of fish.
5. As a predator, the bear exterminates many other insects and their larvae, thus significantly helping in the protection of cultivated plants.

As you can see, this scary-looking insect has many advantages. Whether it specifically harms your garden depends on the number of individuals on the site and the conjuncture of their behavior. Before starting the fight with the bear, carefully weigh the pros and cons, and then draw a conclusion.

Many readers ask, does the bear bite or not? We answer, as such, a bear bite is impossible due to the peculiarities of the structure of the mouth. The insect can pinch you with its front paws, and even then, if you insert your finger into it.

Cultivation of a bear

If there is a benefit from a bear, then it should be bred, which some people do with success. Adults are sold for medicines or in exotic restaurants. Someone just loves to observe their life and keep them like aquarium fish, fishermen grow them as future bait.

So, when keeping her at home, the bear is fed:

• worms;
• meat leftovers;
• hamarus, food for aquarium fish;
• caught and crushed insects;
• small-grained cereals.

But, contrary to popular belief, the bear practically does not eat potatoes, radishes, cucumbers and apples in captivity.

Interesting things around us and below us. Video about the bear: