Thousands of beetles, of unknown origin, have invaded houses in the village of Metohi in Western Achaia, causing panic among the residents.

The beetles appeared two days ago, in a house located near the lake-marsh Lamia of Strofilia, and on Thursday night, two days later, they infested seven more houses. As the deputy mayor of Civil Protection of the Municipality of Western Achaia, Kostas Tapeinos, told local news site thebest.gr: “They are advancing towards the village of Metochio very quickly infesting the houses one after the other.”

“The strange thing about this phenomenon is that the beetles emerge and move mainly in the afternoon hours when the sun goes down. We have never seen such a phenomenon before, it is the strangest thing we have encountered”, emphasises Tapeinos.

“The residents of Metohi are alarmed and cannot believe their eyes with what they see happening every night”, says Tapeinos who adds that the beetles are not causing any damage either to the houses or to the surrounding crops. So far, as he explains the residents are spraying insecticides in order to be able to stay in their houses, but they are not enough.

“There is no time for delays, the phenomenon is spreading rapidly”, he said, adding that the regional authorities need to do something about the phenomenon.