Darkling Beetle Control
Using balEnce Darkling Beetle Spray or our dry beetle product provides a long-term solution for getting darkling beetles under control in your chicken house. Our organic and reliable biopesticide is safe for humans and the environment.
Darkling beetles wreak havoc in broiler houses, turkey brooder houses, and grow-out houses. Being tropical bugs, the temperatures inside the barns provide the optimal temperature and environments for them to breed, thrive, and rapidly multiply.
WHAT ARE DARKLING BEETLES?
Young birds, when exposed to darkling beetles, prefer to eat them rather than their poultry food resulting in the birds getting large and damaging doses of parasites and diseases.
DAMAGE CAUSED BY DARKLING BEETLES
In addition to spreading diseases among poultry flocks,
- Darkling beetles are a very attractive food source to young birds, who, when exposed to beetles, prefer to eat them rather than poultry food.
- The consumption of both darkling beetle larvae and the adults at the time of placement results in the young birds getting large and damaging doses of parasites and diseases.
- Darkling beetles also consume a tremendous amount of poultry feed, driving up the cost of production.
- Large numbers of beetles in litter applied to fields have produced concerns for surrounding houses as the displaced beetles often seek shelter in human dwellings and, in addition to being a nuisance, cause damage to property by burrowing into insulation.
BALENCE -- HELPING YOU MANAGE DARKLING BEETLES
- balEnce is a BioPesticide. It is not a toxic chemical
- balEnce is naturally occurring and environmentally friendly
- balEnce is a host-specific pathogenic fungus called Beauveria bassiana that targets adult beetles and larvae
- balEnce is safe for humans, animals, and beneficial insects
- balEnce is approved for sale in Canada and in the US by the EPA, and the US Department of Agriculture National Organic Program
HOW DOES BALENCE WORK?
balEnce is a solution of spores (conidia) of Beauveria bassiana, a naturally occurring fungus that is a host-specific pathogen. balEnce targets and kills ONLY darkling beetles. balEnce is not harmful to humans, animals or beneficial insects. The spore is picked up by the darkling beetle, grows, reproduces, and kills the insect. Darkling beetles die in one to five days depending on exposure and environment.
THE IMAGE SHOWS THE BEAUVERIA BASSIANA SPORES GENERATING GERM TUBES. THESE GERM TUBES ENABLE THE FUNGUS TO GROW INSIDE THE DARKLING BEETLE, BOTH LARVAE, AND ADULTS AND KILL THEM.
Which Terregena Product will Help Control the Darkling Beetles Around Your Chickens?
The active ingredient in balEnce products is a naturally occurring fungus (Beauveria bassiana). This fungus specifically targets and kills darling beetles but does not harm humans, livestock, pets, or the beneficial insects that are so important to our environment.
HOW MUCH balEnce DO I NEED?
The darkling beetle breeding cycle, from egg to adult, takes 42 to 60+ days depending on temperature. It is closer to 42 days in the summer and much longer in the winter. Adults can live more than a year. Eggs are laid in the litter or soil. The larvae develop in the litter with the preferred sites being under feeder pans and along the walls of the house. Both the eggs and the pupae can live for up to four months with larvae and adults emerging long after you may think that the darkling beetle problem is under control. It will take many months and several flocks to bring the darkling beetle population under control.
When good beetle control is obtained, the only sites in the house where beetles are usually present and where treatment needs to be continued on a regular basis are in the first few inches of the floor along the wall and under feeder pans.
IN GENERAL, IT WILL TAKE SEVERAL FLOCK TREATMENT CYCLES TO SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE THE NUMBER OF ADULT BEETLES.
balEnce for Darkling Beetles comes as either a dry granular product or a spray concentrate.
