Jun 12, 2008 10:50 pm US/Central
Good Question: Why Are There All These June Bugs?
(WCCO)
They're big, they're loud and they're ugly. June bugs are on the attack, and WCCO-TV viewers have a lot of questions about these large pests that only show up once a year.
"These nasty pests seem to have no purpose," e-mailed Cathy Tollefson of Maplewood, Minn. "They fly around aimlessly, stick to anything they happen to land on and they are just plain frightening!!"
"I hate them. They're like big kidney beans," said Dora Aanderud of Hutchinson, Minn. "They're gross. Can you imagine stepping on one? They'd ruin your shoes."
"They're loud, noisy when they fly, and kind of sound like bumblebees," said Jeff Hahn, University of Minnesota Extension Entomologist. "They're a beetle, about an inch long, kind of reddish brown."
Hahn said that people are either fascinated or horrified by the beetles. They appear in late May or early June and then vanish until the next year.
"This insect goes through a three-year life cycle. So they spend most of their life in the soil," Hahn explained.
After the eggs are hatched, the grubs eat the roots of grass. When they mature into adults three years later, in Minnesota, they emerge to eat the leaves of trees.
"They're attracted to lights. So that's where the banging and head knocking and such goes on. You would not be unaware that they were around," said Hahn.
After the bugs emerge and lay eggs in the soil, the adult beetles simply die, according to Hahn.
"They could be eaten, or they die of natural causes," he said.
The bugs are members of the phyllophaga family. The species of many Minnesotan June bugs is rugosa. Even though many people are afraid of June bugs, they are harmless, according to Hahn.
"Their buzz is worse than their bite," he said.
Hahn expects in a couple weeks, people won't see any more June bugs because they will all have died, but next year is expected to be a huge year for the beetles. The last big year was 2006, so many eggs should have been laid that year. So because takes three years to mature, 2009 should be a June bug bonanza.
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