They cause great damage by chewing out the stamens and fruit.
Fur beetles love flowers, they eat them, they only appear during the flowering period. The difficulty in defending against them is precisely the fact that in flourishing cultures we must also keep in mind the safety of the pollinating insects, writes the novenyvedoszer.hu.
fur beetle (Tropinota hirta) – photo: Fráter Szabolcs, izeltlabuak.hu, CC BY 4.0
The fur beetle (Tropinota hirta obsession Epicometus hirta) is an insect species that is the omnivorous beetles (Polyphaga) suborder, the dung curds (Scarabaeidae) belongs to the family. Its shape is roughly rectangular, its length is 8–13 mm, its color is blackish gray, its entire body is covered with whitish-yellowish hairs. The wing coverts are black, with a different number and position of whitish-yellow spots on each individual.
How does the fur beetle cause damage?
The larva of the fur beetle lives on rot, but sometimes also damages the roots. It can appear on any flowering plant, and its swarming begins in March. Among the flowering plants, it chooses the lower ones first – it causes damage by chewing out the stamens and the fruit. Although it also participates in pollination to some extent, the benefit of this activity is insignificant compared to the damage caused. Beetles like to visit our fruit-bearing plants, bushes, and berries, even en masse.
The intensive flight of adults can be observed in the midday hours – particularly heavy damage can be expected in dry, warm weather, especially in flowering plantations.
How can we protect ourselves against bedbugs?
Prevention is also key in this case, so a washing spray completion. Experts recommend that this be done as soon as possible, because we can no longer spray with all kinds of agents when flowering.
In the protection of flying bees during flowering bee-saving technology must be applied, which consists of two parts: we can only use an insecticide that is not required to be labeled for bees and spray it at dusk.
The lifestyle of the fur beetle does not allow the use of the second element, as it already crawls to ground level in the afternoon. As it is written, according to our current knowledge, against the fur beetle in thriving cultures, the Mospilan (Spilan) can be used.
There is also a chemical-free control against the fur beetle
In doing so, we have to achieve that in the colder weather, as few adult beetles as possible can crawl into the soil cracks, so the beetles will look for another place. This can also be achieved by mulching in autumn, it helps to thin out the stock.
If we didn’t do anything in the fall, we can act in the spring. If you notice the fur beetles, collect them. For this, use a blue water trap, a blue bucket, a bowl, and put water in it. The fur beetles love the color blue, it attracts them, and they drown if they fall into the water. The effect of the bait can be enhanced by adding aniseed tea or orange oil to the water.
