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| Heather beetles in Dorset last week (image: Charles Hartley) |
The last few weeks have been warm enough to wake up
hibernating heather beetles across the U.K., and the first reports have started
to come in to us about the mass dispersal of adult beetles. Thousands were
spotted on the wing in Brownsea Island and Studland in Dorset, and customers at
the House of Bruar near Pitlochry reported beetles flying en masse towards the
end of last week.
Heather beetles hibernate deep in the undergrowth
during the winter, and they emerge when the average daily temperature exceeds
around 8°C. Heather beetles have well developed wings and muscles, but they
tend to let the wind do most of the work when it comes to dispersal. Depending
on the prevailing conditions on the day, they can travel over long distances in
search of new breeding habitats. While there is no precise information relating
to how far beetles can travel, it is likely that they can fly for a several
miles if the wind is behind them.
Once settled in their new habitats, beetles will
mate and lay eggs. Most of the adults will die by the time that the eggs hatch
in June or July, and the real heather damage is caused by the larvae towards
the end of the summer.
The Heather Trust is leading the way on research into heather beetles in Britain, and our projects in the Peak District
and at Langholm Moor aim to provide gamekeepers and land managers with
practical, hands-on answers to help them manage the effects of heather beetle
damage. We have run a survey of heather beetle damage for several years, and we
are now looking for information about heather beetles in 2015.
If you notice adult heather beetles dispersing over
the next few weeks, please let us know by sending us an email or getting in
touch by phone. More information on recognising beetles is available on the
Trust's beetle page. We will be circulating our heather beetle survey forms to
gather information about damage caused over the summer as the year progresses,
and the results from these surveys help us to piece together more information
about the nature of beetle outbreaks.
Survey
returns are plotted on a map, and we have just received one of the last returns
from 2014; a mixed year for heather beetle damage from Cornwall to Wester Ross.
