Overview
- The Hessisches Ried in southern Hesse is seeing a periodic mass flight of May beetles, with local experts estimating about 500 million insects this spring.
- Evening swarms can slow traffic near the Mönchhof interchange on the A67 and A3, where past flights left windshields covered with beetles.
- North Rhine-Westphalia reports no unusual numbers this year, and NABU NRW and the state nature academy say natural migration from the Upper Rhine plain is unrealistic.
- In Lower Saxony, sightings began unusually early in April, which a NABU biologist links to a mild winter and a warm spring that sped larvae into adults.
- Forests and orchards can suffer leaf loss from adult feeding and root damage from larvae, and experts now favor rewetting as a long-term fix after pesticides and biocontrols fell short.