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European Chafer Beetle
The European Chafer Beetle is an invasive insect pest. Its larvae feed on the roots of grasses, causing serious damage to lawns.
Adult Chafer Beetles are tan or brown, measuring approximately 1.5 centimetres (0.5 inches) long. The larvae (or grubs) have brown heads and white, C-shaped bodies, and they’re smaller than a dime.
Check out the Chafer Beetle Brochure (PDF) for more information.
How to Know if You Have an Infestation
Chafer Beetle infestation is often most visible when raccoons, birds and other wildlife, eager to eat the grubs, begin digging up grasses and damaging turf.
Between January and March you can monitor your grass for grubs by cutting back a section of the turf and digging around in the dirt. If there are more than five grubs per section, you may want to consider Chafer Beetle control.
Best Management Practices
To find out if Chafer control is needed:
- Cut three sides of a 30-centimetre-by-30-centimetre square (about the length of a ruler) of grass to a depth of 5 centimetres (about 2 inches).
- Fold back the square patch and count the grubs in the soil by digging around.
- Cut five more squares of sod/turf in different areas of your lawn, count the grubs in each square.
- If more than 5 grubs per square are found, then Chafer control may be necessary.
Apply nematodes (Heterorhabditis bacteriophora is recommended) in late July. Contact your local garden centre to pre-order nematodes ahead of time.
- Nematodes can be an effective treatment - provided they are properly stored and applied to the infested lawn area. The lawn and soil layers should be sufficiently moistened before application and for about two weeks following application.
- The City offers Water Exemption Permits to support residents applying nematodes during the region-wide water use restrictions.
- Please note that most pesticides are prohibited under the City’s Pesticide Use Control Bylaw. This includes products that are sold to treat the European Chafer Beetle such as Merit, Sevin, Bayer Advanced Grub Control and Arena that contain the active ingredients imidacloprid, clothianidin, or carbaryl.
- Important Note: The video below was produced prior to the updated water regulations and it advises to 'water a couple times a day on days with higher temperatures.' This conflicts with the most recent restriction changes. Please adhere to the current water regulations.
The best line of defense is proper lawn maintenance year round!
- Aerate and over-seed in spring and fall to improve health of lawn and let the rain handle the watering for you. Consider applying lime in the early spring and fall.
- Mow about 6 cm high and leave grass clippings on your lawn to keep it as cool and moist as possible.
- Consider planting alternative ground cover species that are drought-tolerant, Chafer beetle-resistant and can easier to maintain. Contact your local garden centre and check out our Invasive Plants page to find non-invasive plant species best suited to your property. Visit Metro Vancouver’s Grow Green Guide for more inspiration!
- If you purchase top soil, you may want to ask the vendor how they ensure their soil isn’t contaminated.
- Examples of alternative ground cover plants:
- Green Brass Buttons (Leptinella squalida)
- Black Brass Buttons (Leptinella squalida ’Platt’s Black’)
- Creeping Pratia (Pratia pedunculata ’County Park’)
- Purple Creeping Thyme (Thymus praecox ’ Purple Carpet’)
- Red Creeping Thyme (Thymus praecox ’Coccineus’)
- Goldmoss Stonecrop (Sedum acre ’Aurea’)
- Creeping Chamomile (Chamaemelum nobile)
January to March
- Find out the extent of lawn damage caused by Chafer beetle. Look for damaged turf and check for Chafer larva in cut sections of the lawn.
- If more than five grubs are found per section, consider applying a control treatment in July.
April to May
- Rake up or till damaged turf. If removing turf, a local disposal option is the Meadows Landscape Recycling Centre. Check their website for rates and limits.
- Aerate soil and consider applying lime to replenish the turf and soil with nutrients.
- Apply a top dressing of compost and/or topsoil and new seed or sod to repair the lawn.
- Let the rain handle the watering! The City offers Water Exemption Permits starting on May 1 to allow watering of new lawns that have not yet established.
- Maintain about an hour of deep watering weekly. Refer to the water use restrictions for more information.
- Mow about 6 cm high and leave clippings on the lawn to retain moisture.
June to August
- Consider pre-ordering nematodes from your local garden centre in June.
- Maintain about an hour of deep watering weekly. Refer to the water use restrictions for more information.
- Mow about 6 cm high and leave clippings on the lawn to retain moisture.
- Apply a Chafer beetle biological control treatment around mid to late July. Nematode treatments require deep watering just before the application and for about two weeks after application. The City offers Water Exemption Permits to support residents’ nematode treatment efforts.
September to November
- Maintain mow height of about 6 centimetres high and leave clippings on the lawn to retain moisture.
- Aerate soil and apply seed to improve the lawn.
- If lawn damage by animals is present, cover up any exposed soil to deter further damage for the rest of the year.
December
- No maintenance needed at this time.
A European Chafer completes its life cycle in one year.
April to Late June
Adult beetles emerge from the soil and fly to nearby deciduous (broad-leaved) trees to mate and feed. Once mated, females deposit eggs (up to 50 eggs per female) in the soil. During this time, beetles cause minimal damage to turf.
July to September
Eggs hatch in July, and the larvae (grubs) begin to feed on turf grass roots. Infected turf may feel "spongy" when stepped on due to the grubs tunneling underneath. During this time, damages to turf can be seen by brown, dying patches of grass.
October to March
The grubs grow as they continue to feed in fall and winter. They remain within 5 centimetres of the ground surface unless in freezing conditions when they burrow deeper into the soil. During this time, damage to turf is most serious. Birds, skunks, and other predators dig up grasses to feed on the mature grubs. The grubs continue to feed until they pupate (undergo metamorphosis) to become adult beetles in May.