HEATHER BEETLE

The Heather Trust does not underestimate the devastating effect a heather beetle attack can have on huge areas of heath.

Heather beetle persists to be a problem on heather moorland and there are no definitive policies to deal with the damage. The beetle itself cannot be removed or exterminated, and any attempt to eradicate the beetle may result in far-reaching damage to important insect life. 

We have carried out studies into the effectiveness of burning and cutting compared to no management in response to a heather beetle outbreak and have concluded that although heather looks dead after a heather beetle attack, there is no evidence from  those trials that burning or cutting of the heather is necessary to reestablish heather after a beetle attack. However, cyclical outbreaks which occur for several consecutive years may pose a serious threat to heather coverage in the long term. 

Treatment for heather beetle should be focussed upon restoring damage and remembering that moorland which includes a range of heathers at different ages and structures will always be more resilient to damage. 

We continue to advocate for considered, effective treatment and research into: 

• The nature and cause of heather beetle damage; 

• The techniques for managing the aftermath of a heather beetle outbreak; 

• The best overall strategies for dealing with damaged heather. 

Heather damaged by beetle is easy to burn in the first available burning season. However, heather can be very difficult to burn properly after this point, particularly if there is a strong flush of new grass. Damaged heather will become harder to burn as time passes, so priority areas should be identified. 

In several cases, cutting has been shown to be an effective means of managing heather after an outbreak of heather beetle, either used on its own or in tandem with burning to allow large areas of damaged heather to be broken up. Cutting can help to remove the dead canopy of heather litter, allowing regeneration to take place from stick or rootstock – but only if the existing heather coverage was young and healthy enough to respond. 

In areas of deep peat, changes in legislation mean that remedial burning may not be possible, and certainly not outside the controlled burning season. 

It is worth noting that in our studies, none of the above treatments prevented beetle from returning in subsequent seasons and even without any treatment, heather will frequently recover from damage by heather beetle – particularly where there is light or little grazing.