Colorado beetle in the Channel Islands, 1947 and 1948

Colorado beetles can survive up to 10 days in sea water and still be capable of flying when the temperature reaches 80° F. (26·67° C.). The beetles that reached the Channel Islands in May 1947 and in May 1948 prove that they can travel across about 30 miles of sea, the approximate distance of Guernsey from the Cherbourg peninsula. The invasions occurred as a result of migrant beetles from the Cherbourg peninsula which dropped on the sea between the Channel Islands and the French coast and drifted ashore.