Enlarge image
Cockchafer eat the farmers' harvests - but their larvae cause even greater damage (symbol image)
Photo: Wolfgang Kumm / dpa
Cockchafers are popping up en masse in southern Germany - and this is a problem for farmers in particular.
As reported by Münchner Merkur and the news website RTL.de, among others, the beetles cause damage by eating large parts of the harvest.
Over the entire life cycle, however, it is not the beetles that are the biggest problem for agriculture, but their larvae, the grubs.
After the beetles have laid their eggs in the ground, the grubs hatch after four to six weeks.
The larvae spend up to four years in the ground and eat roots.
This allows the larvae to kill entire trees.
Weather conditions favor mass hatches
The beetles usually hatch for several weeks from April onwards.
According to NABU, however, April was so cold this year that the insects stayed in the ground longer.
Now the good weather conditions are helping that the beetles are currently hatching en masse, especially in Bavaria.
After hatching, cockchafer live only a few weeks: the males die after mating, the females after laying eggs.
Although their flight style could seem threatening, the beetles are harmless to humans.
According to information from RTL.de, the distribution of cockchafer varies from region to region.
While they are increasingly occurring again in the south, the population is stagnating at a low level in the east.
tfb