Control of the number of field slugs Deroceras agreste L. in the plantations of garden strawberry

Abstract

Slugs cause serious harm to nurseries and young plantations of fruit and berry crops in the Krasnodar region. On garden strawberries, the most common species is the field slug Deroceras agreste L., whose larvae damage ripe fruits and leaves, as well as contaminate them with their secretions and mucus, which leads to a decrease in the quality of seedlings and contributes to damage by secondary pests. In modern protection systems, the most commonly used pest control systems are molluscicides containing methaldehyde. The aim of our research was to assess the biological effectiveness of the molluscicides Sliznyakoff, G (60 g/kg methaldehyde) and Slizneed, G (60 g/kg methaldehyde) in controlling the abundance of field slugs in strawberry agrocenoses on the Clery variety. It was found that with an average number of phytophage larvae in the control variant (12.5-16.0 individuals / 10 m2), a single use of molluscicides causes 95.3 % mortality of D. agreste L. on the 7th day.