Japanese beetle

[ducks4you]

I stopped with the traps bc every J. Beetle on your street will come calling. You could try the soapy water thing, but maybe fill a spray bottle with very HOT soapy water, spray with a bucket underneath and scald them before you drown them.
Also, keep the growth low under the plants that they like, for instance, they love to attack roses, so that there are fewer places to land.

 

[Nyboy]

My nephew once suggested secretly placing a salt lick in neighbors yard, so deer eat his landscaping not mine. Could do same with beetle traps if your neighbor is a ass.

 

[flowerbug]

the biological control for them is some kind of disease/fungi/bacteria that kills them while they are at grub stage in the ground. the problem with the control is that you pretty much have to get the entire neighborhood (or a large enough group of them) to be on-board with the treatment so that it does actually work well enough to notice the difference. and then the collateral damage is that some other larval species can be affected so you may lose certain butterfly populations.

at least this is my current understanding of the control for them in a way that doesn't involve insecticides or having to put out traps.

i'm not sure why there hasn't been found a predator for them in their native habitat, but perhaps that is worse than they are so... i've not looked into any of this further, they're annoying but not any worse than the many other things i have to deal with.

as for chicken balls, i'm hungry for sweet and sour chicken now and it is all YOUR faults, yep, every one of you. lol...

 

[Donna Raybon]

If you and neighbors treat yard with milky spore you kill larvae in soil. They only live in turf grass and that is why suburbs are infested. Hay/pasture lands are not to larvae's liking. If only you treat yard, you eliminate larvae damage to root system, but will still get adult beetles that emerge from neighbors yard. BTW if you have skunks digging in your yard? they are going after the larvae of beetle grubs.... eliminate larvae and skunks go away.

They can strip leaves bare on roses, blackberries, and beans in a matter of hours. You have to get on it quick or they eat everything. Neem and early morning routine of knocking them into soapy water works well. Most are now pretty immune to Sevin.

 

[baymule]

If you and neighbors treat yard with milky spore you kill larvae in soil. They only live in turf grass and that is why suburbs are infested. Hay/pasture lands are not to larvae's liking. If only you treat yard, you eliminate larvae damage to root system, but will still get adult beetles that emerge from neighbors yard. BTW if you have skunks digging in your yard? they are going after the larvae of beetle grubs.... eliminate larvae and skunks go away.

They can strip leaves bare on roses, blackberries, and beans in a matter of hours. You have to get on it quick or they eat everything. Neem and early morning routine of knocking them into soapy water works well. Most are now pretty immune to Sevin.

Hey Donna! Glad you made it over here to TEG!

 

[dewdropsinwv]

I haven't seen many J beetles lately. They were really bad a few years ago. I have only seen one or two lately

 

[so lucky]

I haven't seen many this year yet, either. Maybe it will be an off year for them.

I did find two big tomato horn worms today, though. I get the willies when I have to pull them off the plant, and they stick to it, then stick to your finger. Ugh.

 

[flowerbug]

yeah, those tomato worms can really hold on.

i cut them in half on the plant. like a warning to the rest... haven't had too many the past few years. will be time to start checking plants in a few.

not seen any Japanese beetles yet this season. was so hot and dry last summer i'm not sure they had a good year for getting grubs down. would be nice to not have to pick them off plants this year.

 

[Just-Moxie]

yeah, those tomato worms can really hold on.

i cut them in half on the plant. like a warning to the rest... haven't had too many the past few years. will be time to start checking plants in a few.

not seen any Japanese beetles yet this season. was so hot and dry last summer i'm not sure they had a good year for getting grubs down. would be nice to not have to pick them off plants this year.

Awww.....my chickens would LOVE some juicy tomato worms! So far, I have seen none, nada, zero, zilch- 0

 

[canesisters]

Saw a post the other day with a picture of a tomato worm nearly as long as the woman's hand. She said that they relocated it....