The rose chafer poses a formidable threat to all rose gardeners.
These medium-sized beetles can turn your beloved roses into a five-course meal in the brief time period that they are alive.
In this article, we’ll discuss what rose chafers are, how they damage your roses, and how you can stop and prevent them from infesting your garden.
What Is A Rose Chafer?
Rose chafers, or the Macrodactylus subspinosus, are a group of small to medium-sized beetles that are native to North America.
Adult rose chafers have a yellowish-tan body and measure about 8 to 13 millimeters in length.
They are winged insects with six long reddish-brown legs and two antennae.
Their larvae are very rarely spotted, and while the grubs do not directly cause harm to the rose plant, they can grow into adult beetles that will cause damage.
The larvae’s body is brown in color and curved into a “c” shape. Larvae primarily feed on the roots of grass and weeds.
Does A Rose Chafer Fly?
Yes, rose chafers are flying insects.
They use their wings to fly from plant to plant.
Their ability to fly enables them to travel to find roses to feast on, in addition to locating other rose chafers to mate with.
How Can A Rose Chafer Affect Your Rose Plant
The rose chafer’s diet is primarily composed of flower blossoms.
As a result, this can cause severe damage to your rose plants.
Rose chafers will leave large, irregular-shaped holes in the petals of your roses. This is the telltale symptom of an infestation.
Prolonged feeding can completely destroy the beauty of your roses.
When Do Rose Chafers Come Out
Adult rose chafers emerge from the ground at the beginning of summer, around late May to early June.
How Long Does A Rose Chafer Live
After evolving from their larval stage, an adult rose chafer can live between 3 to 6 weeks.
During this time, they feast off of available plants and mate, laying eggs and creating a new generation of rose chafers that will reemerge in the next year.
The new larvae hatch about 1 to 3 weeks after the eggs are laid.
For the remainder of the summer, they feed on the roots of grass and weeds.
After that, they will hibernate through the winter and transform into adults the following summer.
Where Does A Rose Chafer Live
The larvae of the rose chafer primarily live in sandy soil, where they feed on roots until they evolve into adults.
Once they are adults, they are capable of flying from plant to plant, where they live out the remaining 3 to 6 weeks of their life.
How To Get Rid Of Rose Chafer (Step By Step)
Getting rid of rose chafers will require a combination of methods to eradicate these pesky insects.
Here’s some tips on how to get rid of rose chafers:
Things You’ll Need
- Bucket filled with soapy water
- Fine-mesh fabric
- Neem oil
- Spray bottle
- Chemical spray
4 Steps To Mastering Rose Chafer Control
Discover a four-step strategy to protect your roses from the relentless rose chafer threat. From hand-picking to effective insecticides, we’ve got your garden covered.
- Step 1 – Pick by Hand
If you have a small infestation of rose chafers, you can individually pick off each beetle and drop them into a bucket of soapy water to kill them.
- Step 2 – Use a Physical Barrier
Covering susceptible plants with fine mesh netting can help prevent rose chafers from accessing them. We suggest going to your local fabric store for a large enough sheet of fabric that can adequately cover your plant. While the physical barrier will help with flying insects, it will not protect from larval rose chafers. This step should in in combination with picking by hand or insecticidal intervention.
- Step 3 – Use an Insecticide
In cases of high infestation, using an insecticide is an effective tool to exterminate rose chafers. If you are looking for a natural approach, we suggest using neem oil to curb the rose chafer population. Neem oil can come pre-made in a spray or as a pure oil. If you buy pure oil, please be sure to dilute it in a spray bottle with water.
- Step 4 – Chemical Intervention
If natural solutions fail, then we suggest chemical insecticide as a control tactic. Some examples of chemicals that are effective in exterminating rose chafers include: carbaryl, acephate, and chlorpyrifos. Insecticidal sprays should be used every two days during an active infestation. This will ensure that you are successfully exterminating the new rose chafers that fly onto your plant.
How To Control Rose Chafer – Preventative Action
Always be sure to maintain a healthy rose plant.
The most susceptible plants are ones that are stressed; they are open to suffering from severe damage from insects when they are not in peak condition.
Another key to preventing rose chafers is keeping a watchful eye for any signs of adult beetles.
Look for their signature yellowy-tan-colored bodies.
In small infestations, rose chafers can easily be picked off by hand or squashed or exterminated in a bucket of soapy water.
Additionally, you may also opt to use chemical controls as a preventative measure.
We do advise that before using chemical controls you read the instruction labels very clearly.
In addition, do not use these chemicals in areas of the garden that might come in contact with food, such as a vegetable garden.
Conclusion
Through a combination of practical and chemical interventions, rose chafers can be a thing of the past in your garden.
Now that we’re armed with this knowledge of how to exterminate rose chafers, you can enjoy your rose garden in peace without the looming threat of these pests.
FAQs
No, rose chafers will not bite humans. However, their spindly legs can be especially unnerving if one happens to crawl on you.
Yes, rose chafers are poisonous. These beetles contain a toxin in their body that can be especially dangerous to small animals, especially birds. This is why getting rid of rose chafers is so essential to the betterment of your garden. Rose chafers’ presence in the garden can completely shift the ecosystem and needs to be curtailed.
Related Posts:
