Invasive Japanese beetle spreads in Switzerland

Invasive Japanese beetle now also found in Bern and Köniz Keystone-SDA

The invasive Japanese beetle has now spread to the Swiss capital, Bern and the town of Köniz. Canton Bern has ordered measures to prevent the pest from spreading further.

The Japanese beetle can cause considerable damage to the natural environment and to agriculture.

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The measures imposed by the canton come into force with immediate effect in the outbreak area in the city of Bern and in Köniz, as well as in the surrounding buffer zones. A total of 21 municipalities are affected.

In Spiez, the canton had already imposed measures at the end of April, as it had in Oberaargau, where the municipalities of Wynau, Roggwil and Schwarzhäusern lie within the buffer zone of an outbreak area in the canton of Solothurn.

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Within the outbreak area, restrictions apply to the transport of garden waste, compost and topsoil. From mid-August, the municipalities will be using nematodes – threadworms that attack the larvae of the Japanese beetle – on irrigated sports pitches. These threadworms pose no danger to humans or animals.

Within the buffer zone, the transport of green waste is restricted.

At the end of June, several Japanese beetles were caught in traps near the Schönausteg in Bern. As a result, the Plant Protection Unit expanded its monitoring programme. The results have now confirmed that a population has established itself in this area.

Since the beginning of July, individual Japanese beetles have also been caught in monitoring traps in the Bernese Oberland. Investigations are now underway to determine how far the beetle has already spread. If a population is confirmed, measures will also be put in place in this area.

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Translated from German, reviewed by an English Department journalist.