The Heather Beetle Season

We are now at that stage of the year when heather beetles are at their most destructive, and signs of damage are beginning to emerge.  If anyone sees the familiar signs of heather beetle damage, please could they let us know. There is a survey form on the heather beetle section of the website, but information in any form will be gratefully received.  This information will help us to establish the best possible picture of the range and extent of heather beetle outbreaks, this year.

The life cycle of the heather beetle involves several larval stages which can be extremely damaging to the heather plants, and the end of July and beginning of August is usually the peak of activity for these unassuming little grubs.

Even as they feed on the heather shoots, the plants begin to show signs of stress. Otherwise healthy heather plants look red and dry, and even in mild cases the emerging flowers will die back. The characteristic “burning bush” of September and October coincides with the hatch of adult heather beetles, and the damage is sometimes assumed to take place during early autumn. In reality, while adult heather beetles do feed on heather shoots, the bulk of the damage is caused by larvae at this time of year.

Having discovered a very concentrated outbreak of heather beetle on Patrick Laurie’s farm near Dumfries, we are now taking every opportunity to study this situation at close hand. Already we have been looking at precisely how the larvae use the heather and hope to document the progress of the attack as autumn approaches. 

The outbreak is concentrated on an area of heavily grazed heather which has been free from all livestock since February 2010. Close examination reveals that the majority of the past four years’ regeneration has been impacted by beetle larvae, and it will be very interesting to discover how the plants react to the damage.

The Heather Trust is always looking for information about beetle outbreaks wherever they take place, and we will be trying to gather news over the coming weeks as damage caused by beetle begins to show up across the country.

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