Heather Beetle

The Heather Trust's heather beetle survey has been running all summer, and we've heard of several serious outbreaks of beetle across the country. Some of the worst damage has been caused in Caithness, but reports of patchy damage has been very widespread, with many little areas of damage  becoming a feature of the summer.

The survey is important because it is the only national effort to gather information on heather beetle outbreaks, and after eight years the information is starting to form patterns and trends which may help us to understand exactly why beetle damage occurs in the way it does.

Thanks to support from landowners and land managers across the country, we have amassed a huge amount of detail on heather beetle outbreaks, but it's always important to hear more and to follow stories from year to year to better understand the nature of the damage. Please fill in a survey form and return it to us if you have seen beetle damage this year.

For example, it was traditionally thought that beetle damage worked on a three or four year cycle, with the worst damage caused in years 2 and 3, but our survey has shown just how variable this can be. Unfortunately, some of the outbreaks we have recorded have been so dramatic in year 1 that the heather is unable to support subsequent beetle outbreaks, and we have just as much evidence to suggest that beetle outbreaks can rumble on at a low level for several years, particularly on wetter ground where beetle numbers might be sustained by damp breeding habitats.

For the last two or three years, concerns have been raised about the link between wet ground and increased beetle numbers, with some land managers raising concerns that moves to "re-wet" moorland for peatland conservation might have the undesired knock-on effect of increasing beetle abundance. Add to this the fact that heather may be stressed by wet conditions and there is a possibility that re-wetting could present some serious problems. We're interested to canvas opinion on this idea, so if you have seen any changes to your moorland involving beetles since re-wetting, we'd be interested to hear from you. No formal research has yet been carried out into this subject, and we would like to find out more.

More on beetle on our Heather Beetle page