Active migrant: where did the Colorado potato beetle come from in Russia
Voracious Colorado beetles on potato beds have already become commonplace. A dangerous pest feels great not only in Europe, but also in the territory of the former CIS countries. Because of this, most young people believe that the Colorado has always lived in this area, but in reality he is an immigrant from far North America.
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The history of the discovery of the Colorado potato beetle
The Colorado potato beetle is an immigrant from the United States.
The Colorado potato beetle is native to the Rocky Mountains. In 1824, this striped beetle was first discovered by entomologist Thomas Say. In those days, the future dangerous pest did not even suspect the existence of potatoes and its diet consisted of wild plants of the nightshade family.
This species received its famous name decades later. By that time, he had already descended from the mountains and set off to conquer new territories. In 1855, the Colorado potato beetle tasted potatoes in the fields of Nebraska, and already in 1859 caused enormous damage to the plantations of Colorado.
The striped pest began to rapidly move north and the glory of a dangerous pest and the proud name of the Colorado potato beetle were assigned to it.
How did the Colorado potato beetle get to Europe?
After the Colorado potato beetle took over most of North America, it continued its migration to new continents.
Colorado beetle.
Since, by the end of the 19th century, many merchant ships were already sailing across the Atlantic Ocean, it was not difficult for the pest to get to Europe.
The first country to face the "striped" problem was Germany. In 1876-1877, the Colorado potato beetle was discovered near the city of Leipzig. After that, the pest was noticed in other countries, but the number of colonies was small and local farmers managed to cope with them.
How the Colorado potato beetle ended up in Russia
Journey of the Colorado potato beetle in Europe.
The pest became widespread during the First World War and by the end of the 1940s it settled in the countries of Eastern Europe. On the territory of Russia, the beetle first appeared in 1853. The first region of the country affected by the pest invasion was the Kaliningrad region.
In the mid-70s, the Colorado potato beetle was already widespread in Ukraine and Belarus. During the drought, straw from Ukrainian fields was massively imported to the South Urals, and with it a huge amount of striped pest penetrated into Russia.
Having firmly established itself in the Urals, the Colorado potato beetle began to occupy new territories and move further, and already at the beginning of the 21st century it reached the territory of the Far East.
Since then, pest control has been actively carried out throughout the country.
Conclusion
Even less than 200 years ago, the Colorado potato beetle was not a problem and people did not even know about its existence, but as you know, nothing in the world is permanent. There is a lot of evidence for this, and one of them is the path of a small leaf beetle, which conquered vast territories and became one of the most dangerous garden pests in the world.
