Monitoring for Colorado Beetles is beginning
The relatively cool weather and the prevailing air flows have not been beneficial to the development of the Colorado beetle and the spread to Finland. The air flows of the last few weeks and the directions of possible thunderstorm fronts are crucial when it comes to the development of the Colorado beetle situation. Occasional beetles may spread with traffic.
During the last ten years there have been a total of 519 occurrences of beetles in Finland. The worst invasions occurred in 1998 and 2002. In 1998 there were 149 findings of Colorado beetles and in 2002 there were 324. The first findings of the summer have varied from the end of June to the end of July. Thanks to the efficient control the beetles have only rarely managed to overwinter in Finland, and permanent populations have not managed to become established.
In risk areas especially, there is reason to monitor potato cultivations for Colorado beetles during the course of the whole summer. Any findings or suspicions of Colorado beetles have to be reported immediately to Evira’s or the TE-Centre’s plant health inspector, who will verify the finding and give instructions for further action. The Colorado beetle is about one centimetre long and it has ten black longitudinal stripes on its yellow back. More information about the Colorado beetle and its identifying markings may be found on Evira's Internet pages (in Finnish): www.evira.fi/koloradonkuoriainen. The service number for the reporting of sightings is +358 40 801 4407 (between the hours of 9-20).
For additional information, please contact:
Senior Officer Atro Virtanen, Evira, tel. +358 20 77 25047
Senior Officer Paula Lilja, Evira, tel. +358 20 77 25043