Humble beetle which can devastate our moors

Among the most noted features of the Scottish countryside are the heather moors which at this time of the year provide a deep purple tinge to the scenery.

However, if a little predator, the heather beetle, has his way, the options for retaining this scenic part of the landscape will be diminished.

"There is no doubt that there are now more heather beetles about than they used to be and they are causing havoc in some areas," according to Simon Thorp of the Heather Trust.

He instanced a major surge in the beetle population on Langholm moor where, some 500 acres of heather have been devastated this year by the parasite.

The problem is these bugs who live on the heather and who kill it leave behind bare land which is then quickly colonised by rough grasses. Most often the grass that comes through is purple moor grass which is pretty unpalatable. This degradation in habitat has a negative effect on the value of the land regardless of its use as a grouse moor or for livestock grazing.

One problem for the Trust and for landowners affected by the bug is that not a lot is known about how to control the parasite. Some research was carried out a century ago and is included in Lord Lovat's report of 1911. And then in the early years of the Second World War, more work was carried out to find out more about the life style of the heather beetle.

Since then, there has been very little research carried out. "We need to find out more about the beetle and why it is more of a problem now than it used to be," said Thorp.

There were a number of areas for future research. The Heather Trust wanted to know more about the ecology of the beetle. They also wanted to know how to regenerate a moorland after a beetle attack and possibly most important how to reduce the risk of an attack in the first place.

As the experience at Langholm has demonstrated the beetle seem to be unaffected by a severe winter, although Thorp though that part of its recent surge in population might be due to milder wetter spells of weather.

The problem for the Heather Trust is that it is difficult to predict where the next outbreak will occur.

Thorp added: "There are heather beetles in most large patches of heather but something triggers off an explosion in numbers and completely devastates an area."