Plague of willow beetles invade Donaghcloney

For months the Willow Beetle has invaded windows and washing, creeped into bedrooms and saturated gardens.

One resident of the Ballnabracket Road area of Donaghcloney described thousands of beetles crawling into cracks in the sash windows, car doors and generally invading any space they can find.

He said he has to regularly use the garden vacuum cleaner to suck up the beetles.

“When you walk outside they crunch underfoot and we have to brush them up regularly,” he said.

The resident said many neighbours are suffering the deluge of beetles and it is costing them a fortune in insecticide.

“They seem to be searching for places to hibernate for the winter,” he added.

“You can’t put washing on the line as they cover the clothes and creep into pockets. When shaking the clothes dry in our kitchen my wife discovered dozens on the floor,” he added.

“My daughter woke up to hundreds of them in her bedroom,” said the resident.

The man said local residents are at the end of their tether because of the beetle pests and have organised local meetings to find a way to combat the problem.