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HomeNewsWhite spotted Sawyer Beetles 'Spruce Bugs' provide major help to environment

White spotted Sawyer Beetles ‘Spruce Bugs’ provide major help to environment

We know them as the Spruce Bugs, but they are actually called the white spotted Sawyer Beetle. There have been a lot of them in our region it seems this summer. Dan Rowlinson of the Ministry Natural Resources and Forestry says even though the bugs are a nuisance they play an important role in the environment.

“They help to get the trees back to the soil,” he said. “So they attack the trees, they start to break that woody debris down and then the trees will blow down to the ground. The trees will continue to provide nutrients back into the soil.”

Rowlinson says the bugs do make that familiar noise and if you listen close enough on a hot day you can hear them in the forest.

“You could actually hear them chewing in the woods that really light crunching sound.,” he said. “They are no real threat to people other than they are an annoyance. But they have been known to nip at you if they land on your shoulder or your head.”

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Rowlinson says the bugs are nearly done their two year lifecycle and adults have been busy laying eggs for the future.

One of the reasons why the bugs come out to our homes is that they are attracted to the heat of the pavement and cement.

 

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