This is how you fight annoying junic exercises: tips for your garden!

This is how you fight annoying junic exercises: tips for your garden!

In the gardens of northern Germany, they fly up again: the Junikchafer (Amphimallon Solstitials) heralded their season. Garden owners are alerted, because the small insects can cause considerable damage to lawn, plants and trees. These beetles are significantly smaller than the frequently dreaded cockchafer, their size is between 14 and 18 millimeters. Your caramel-colored, hairy body and the yellowish-brown, ribbed top wings are characteristic and easy to see. Compared to this, cockchafer reach a length of 25 to 30 millimeters and present themselves with red -brown wing ceilings and a black head.

The larvae of the Junikäfer, better known as Engerbang, are the actual culprit. These larvae with a brown head, which are up to three centimeters long, cream -colored larvae, eat unabashedly on the roots of living plants, which often leads to dying plant parts and unsightly, yellow lawns. Damage is quickly visible: the upper parts of the plant start to wither and the blades of grass can be easily pulled out of the ground. It is particularly problematic that these grabbings mainly occur in sandy soil, while they are harmless in compost or mulch, as useful grannies live there that support in humus formation.

activity and development

The Junikaubers have a two -year development cycle and are active from mid -June to mid -July. They are based on their nightly flights on dark silhouettes, which leads to the impression that they are "attacking" in their gardens. The females lay about 40 eggs in sandy, light soil, from which the narrowbels hatch after about three weeks. These go through three stages of development and hibernate in the earth.

The damage that Junikäfer and their larvae cause can be considerable. Disturbing plants and brown burned areas in the lawn that are easy to pull off are frequent signs of an infestation. While the adult beetles eat on leaves, their damage due to the short lifespan is not as serious as that of the grabbels that can turn out to be a real plague.

control and prevention

garden lovers who want to act against these pests have various methods available. The biological control with nematodes (heterorhabtitis bacteriophora) is an effective possibility because these parasites penetrate the larvae and kill them through a bacterium. The promotion of natural enemies, such as birds and hedgehogs, can also help to keep the junic exercise population in check. Mechanical methods such as profound soil processing or special mushroom granules are also on offer, but should be considered as the last option.

For the preventive measure, garden owners should rely on intensive lawn care. Regular mowing, fertilizing and loosening the soil are crucial. Lawn protection tissue also helps to protect the soil in heavily affected areas. It is important to choose the right time for fighting, because nematodes are optimally used when the grids are in the first stage of development, i.e. in August and September.