I would like some advice on Cock Chafers. At least, I believe that's what they are. They seem to appear around the month of July, they are a large brown flying beetle that come up out of the lawn and collect around the trees and eaves of the house.

They terrorise both my wife and children but the cats and dog seem to like chasing them. I'm hoping that there is some sort of safe way of killing them off. My garden use to be grazing land and I believe this is why they come up year after year.

I have recently noticed the holes appearing again in the lawn. I don't know if this means the larvae which seem to live under it are moving about or if the holes are there all the time.

Hope you can help.

Regards Edward.

HI Edward

The Cockchafer or May Bug is the largest of the chafers we get in the UK, I always
refer to them as flying walnuts !

Every year we get calls from worried householders who think they have been
invaded by flying cockroaches.

The Maybug (Cockchafer) Melolontha melolontha is up 35mm long and these
beetles do alot of damage to trees & crops by eating their flowers and leaves.

Their fat white larvae do even more damage as they attack plant roots, the grubs live
underground for 3-4 years.

Although they look really scary they are quite harmless (Except when they crash into
you while your riding your bike !)

They are really a “Garden pest” and I don’t know of any way you can control them as
you would need to treat the soil to control the Larvae, and I don’t feel this could be an
option.

I hope this has helped

Regards

Hugh Radford
Guardian Pest Control

ok ok now we have one under a cup and you are right it does look like a flying walnut.
We have woken the whole of the the uni hall up with the screams as the little bug came shooting at us through a window.
Can you tell me who would invent such a nasty ugly useless scary walnut???
Promise me it doesn't bite and i'll let it go unharmed

anna and lee the bug catchers!!!