i live on an estate built about 10 yrs ago. i have just noticed hundreds, and i mean hundreds of bugs (i now know is cockchafer). i thought they were only in rural locations???? they are swarming around everyones drainpipes. they are disgusting. is there anything i can do to get rid of them. can the council do anything?????
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cockchafer-may bugs-help!!! (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter vsj
- Start date
themexican
Well-known member
Frogs luv em :eat:vsj said:
harry eales
Ancient Entomologist
vsj said:
Hello vsj,
Cockchaffers are by no means confined to the countryside, and they can and do live in towns and cities. As long as there are gardens, allotments, parks or grass verges at roadsides, the Cockchaffer will find a place to breed. The larva live underground and are root feeders, I don't think they are particular about what roots they eat.
Like many insects they have a limited flight season (usually about a month) and are single brooded. So your problem is a fairly limited one. Why they should accumulate around drains beats me, unless some have crash landed on a roof and been swept down the gutters by heavy rainfall.
The larva are known to be resistant to various chemical 'drenches' and the use of such chemical treatments would likely kill off a lot of other wildlife.
I don't think you will find your local 'Council' want to know about your problem, they are not classed as vermin, or known to carry disease, people don't get bitten or stung by them either.
If you and all the people on your estate, concreted over every piece of land, on the estate, you still wouldn't get rid of them all. They would still turn up attracted in from the surrounding area. They are mainly nocturnal, and like many insect species, they are attracted to lights, ask any moth trapper.
It is possible that there is a localised population explosion in your area at present, this is not uncommon with many insect species, but things settle back to normal in a year or so. Nature itself has a way of taking care of such occurrences.
Cockchaffers are part of the order of Coleoptera, and have been around for tens of millions of years longer than man, and will probably still be here for millions of years after man is extinct. It's their world, as well as yours, How about a bit of, live and let live. If your housing estate was built, on what was previously just fields, then you invaded their territory, not them, yours.
You may not like them, but they're certainly not going to harm you. I'd rather have them in my garden, than bedbugs in my bed, or ants in my larder.
Harry
Stuart Read
Well-known member
These will almost certainly be Summer Chafers, they occur every year in my garden at this time of year, but this year there are more & so they are more noticable. They are smaller than Cockchafers & more frequent in more built up areas (around here at least).
I have attached photos of both Summer Chafer & Cockchafer.
Stuart.
I have attached photos of both Summer Chafer & Cockchafer.
Stuart.
