Overview
- Plant-protection staff found two adult Japanese beetles in pheromone traps at Hannover Airport, and authorities say there is no evidence the species has established in Lower Saxony so far.
- Officials are treating the finds as isolated introductions and have widened trapping and monitoring in and around the airport to check for further beetles or immature stages.
- The Japanese beetle attacks more than 400 plant species; larvae feed on grass roots and damage turf while adults eat leaves, flowers and fruit and can cause heavy defoliation.
- Authorities suspect the insects arrived as hitchhikers on aircraft, vehicles or in plant material because eggs and larvae can travel in soil, root balls or planting substrates.
- People returning from affected regions are asked to inspect luggage and vehicles, avoid bringing plants or cut flowers from infested areas, photograph and contain suspicious beetles in a closed jar and report finds to the Pflanzenschutzdienst.