In the EU, the Japanese beetle is one of the "priority quarantine pests" and needs to be notified very away given that he consumes everything.
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| A Japanese beetle |
The Japanese beetle would much like life here than in its own Japan, so let's start with that amusing truth. There, natural enemies generally control the population.
However, the little "immigrant" wouldn't be in danger of extinction in Central Europe and would almost consume the Austrian fauna. Because the wolverine is polyphagous, or not at all picky in its search for food, and more or less never misses a tree or bush, it is simple to understand why the dazzling beetle, which is frequently confused with the little July beetle, would become a really bad disruptive factor for the ecosystem and the economy.
The Japanese beetle is similar to the African locust in that it prefers more than 300 different plant varieties, which makes it a nuisance. Failures in the harvest would be unavoidable because, in contrast to our "Flip," it barely faces any predators in Austria. The skeletons of the following plants would be consumed:
- Roses
- Grapes, raspberries, currants, blueberries, strawberries
- Linden, birch, elm, maple, beech, oak,
- Apples, cherries, plums and other stone fruit trees
- Basil
- Corn, tomatoes, soybeans, asparagus, potatoes
- Marigold
Thankfully, the Japanese beetle only produces one generation year. The female lays around 60 eggs in the ground after mating, and the larvae emerge from these eggs in under two weeks. The larva spends the winter at a depth of 30 cm in the earth after feeding on the plant roots from spring until October.
Only in the spring do the larvae pupate, and in May a new beetle emerges. The bug likely arrived in America from Japan in its larval form in the early 20th century through the importation of a Japanese iris. It wasn't until 2021 that it was first found, in Germany and Switzerland.