Invasive species
First Japanese beetle sightings in the southwest this year
The Japanese beetle is an invasive species with enormous potential for damage. Individual specimens have now been found in Baden-Württemberg. (Archive image) Photo
© Uli Deck/dpa
The Japanese beetle is eating fields bare and stripping trees bare. The plant protection service has now reported the first finds of the year in the southwest. The experts are alarmed, but not yet extremely worried.
For the first time this year, live Japanese beetles are in Baden-Württemberg. Individual male animals were caught in traps set up by the plant protection service in Freiburg and in the district of Ludwigsburg at the end of July, according to the Augustenberg Agricultural Technology Center (LTZ) in Karlsruhe.
The Japanese beetle (Popillia japonica), which comes from Asia, is classified in the European Union as a pest that can cause particularly severe damage. The animals attack orchards, vineyards, forests, green spaces and gardens, devouring more than 300 plant species. There are no natural enemies in this country.
The experts at the LTZ have been alarmed for some time. A few weeks ago, a large colony of Japanese beetles was discovered in Switzerland near the border. In the neighboring district of Lörrach, a so-called infestation zone was set up for the first time in Germany to protect them. Plant material, for example, is to remain in place for the time being.
Increased control
However, the individual finds now in Baden-Württemberg – further away from the border – did not trigger any special protective measures, said LTZ plant health expert Frauke Rinke. Since 2021, there have been individual finds every year, and the animals were presumably brought in via trucks, for example. This is also assumed for now. The plant protection service immediately increased the number of traps hung in the affected areas to ensure that these are indeed only isolated finds.
The plant protection service has set up a surveillance network of 82 traps throughout Baden-Württemberg, mainly along the main traffic arteries and at risk locations. This is intended to prevent Japanese beetles from multiplying and becoming permanently established.
The Japanese beetle is only about one centimeter long, has a metallically shiny green head and brown wings. Its striking features are five white tufts of hair on each side of the abdomen and two white tufts of hair at the end of the abdomen. According to the LTZ, the females prefer to lay their eggs in moist or watered grass areas. “The eggs then hatch into larvae that eat grass roots and cause damage to meadows and lawns.”
Invasion should be prevented
In order to prevent them from settling in Germany, people should report suspicious beetle finds to the responsible plant protection service in the respective federal state. The LTZ responsible in Baden-Württemberg is asking the population to catch, freeze and photograph beetles that match the characteristics of the Japanese beetle. The photo should be sent by email to [email protected], stating the location where the beetle was found.
The concern about the spread of the invasive species in Germany is so great that the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and the Julius Kühn Institute (JKI), the Federal Research Institute for Cultivated Plants, have already spoken out in recent days. Experience from countries such as Italy has shown that the Japanese beetle can naturally spread up to ten kilometers per year within the first few years.
“This must be prevented,” stressed Bernhard Schäfer, head of the JKI Institute for Plant Health. The beetle could be introduced as a “stowaway” on vehicles or with plant parts such as bouquets.