A devastating scarab arrives in Switzerland: “Close the windows”

Several foci of Japanese beetles exist in Switzerland. These voracious insects can do big damage.Image: NurPhoto

A seventy traps were placed in Val Mesolcina (GR) to prevent Japanese beetles from proliferating. Currently, five cantons are affected by infestation homes.

Japanese beetles are now also found in Graubünden. The first copies were captured in Val Mesolcina, bordering in Ticino, where a pest population has developed since 2020 already.

“We had already arranged 14 traps to monitor the area, the Val Mesolcina being bordering on an infested region”indicates on Tuesday Andreas Vetsch, head of the plant protection service at the Landquart Agronomic Training Center (GR). The most important capture in a single trap had four Japanese beetles.

Close them Cars doors and windows

To prevent harmful beetles from laying eggs, 72 traps were arranged in Val Mesolcina, most of them in the south of the valley. Andreas Vetsch recommends that vacationers close the windows and the doors of their vehicle permanently to prevent them from getting Japanese scarab by accident during their flight period, between June and September.

Currently, Five cantons are affected by infestation homes: Valais, Zurich, the two Bâles and Schwyz. In Ticino and in a Valais region, it is no longer realistic to exterminate the Japanese beetle, but the infested areas concerned have been circumscribed.

Voracious insect

The Japanese scarab (Popillia Japanica) is a voracious insect that can cause considerable damage. Adult individuals eat leaves, fruits and flowers over 400 plants.

At the larval stage, this insect feeds mainly on grass roots, jeopardizing the green surfaces of all types. It therefore represents a threat to agricultureproducing horticulture and the environment. In early July, the Federal Agriculture Office published an emergency plan to intensify the efforts to combat this quarantine organization. (AG/ATS)

But he remains in Switzerland. Former tennis champion Roger Federer moved the headquarters of his businesses to Wollerau, in the canton of Schwytz, renowned for his tax advantages.

He continues to move away from his homeland: Roger Federer, who grew up in the Leissale and distinguished himself on the clay in earth of the Old Boys Basel, has definitively transplanted outside his region of origin. His Tenro group transferred its headquarters in Bottmingen, to the canton of Basel-Campagne, in Wollerau, in the tax-benefit canton of Schwytz.