I Hate Japanese Beetles

[salinqmind]

They're everywhere! Eating everything! I have to go out to my garden (what's left of it) and pick them off with a rubber glove and flick them into a coffee can of water. And it never ENDS! They outnumber the stars in the sky. Our yard is aswarm with every kind of bird you can imagine (they go through birdseed like Lindsay Lohan goes through a baggie of coke) - why don't some of those birds eat these disgusting beetles??? God! They're like a Biblical plague.

[Malleus, Incus, Stapes!]

We used to have them in our garden, too. I would dig up the larva and feed them to the ants (or inject them with bug spray, but that didn't seem to do anything). When my Venus flytrap gets big enough, I know where I'm gonna put the suckers when I find them.

[Finagle]

Have you tried those bag-a-bug things? I seem to recall that they work well.

Also, chickens love 'em. Maybe you could rent some chickens.

[Sauron]

Japanese beetles are particularly insidious, because fairly early in the summer they lay their larvae underground. You can kill off the adult population, but next year you're going to get just as many, if not more, because it's almost impossible to eliminate the larvae/grubs.

The key is to be vigilant in late spring and early summer, and at the first sign of Japanese beetles, spray your garden liberally with a pesticide that's designed to kill them. I found one that works for about six weeks, and it's very effective.

The following year, you'll have to repeat the process. After that, though, if you've gotten them early enough (before they had a chance to reproduce), your problem should be greatly diminished. If you ever give them a toehold, the population will take off again.

[picker]

I think they're pretty decent. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8Ku8WHPlX0

[Jackmannii]

What insecticide are you using, Sauron? I spray with a pyrethrin derivative and the effect only lasts for about 4-5 days. A spray with Merit worked longer on first application, then the little bastards came roaring back within about a week after the second spraying.

I loathe these creatures, not just for their gluttonous appetites, but for their other revolting habits. They're like the George Costanzas of the bug world, mating and eating simultaneously. And when you go to pick them off a plant, they stick their legs up in the air menacingly. Like that's going to deter me from squashing or beheading them.

[Sauron]

I believe it was a Bayer product, but I used the last of it earlier this year and I can't double-check that. Could've been Spectracide Triazicide. It specified that it killed Japanese beetles on the container. It's the first stuff I've ever used that kept them away after spraying; everything else had to be reapplied roughly every 72 hours. With this stuff, I spray once, late in the spring, and I don't see Japanese beetles for the entire summer.

We have a climbing vine and a Japanese maple, both of which are magnets for Japanese beetles. About three years ago, I literally couldn't use my grill (which was next to the climbing vine) because of the Japanese beetles flying around. Now, we're largely beetle-free.

[DSYoungEsq]

Another solution is to use a professional service to spray. The house I lived in when I was in Ohio used to be overrun by Japanese beetles, until we did that two years running. Now, they barely make a dent, and a light spraying early in the year takes care of the problem.

[salinqmind]

They are decimating a wild grapevine (and this is the first year we got grapes!) - the leaves are like transparent lace. Last year, they did a number on the wine grapes here in the Finger Lakes and actually threatened the wine industry....I remember when every lawn had a yellow-and-turquoise beetle trap on the fron lawn - until it was discovered they attracted many more bugs than could even fit in the traps! :(.

[Squink]

I Hate Japanese Beetles
They're everywhere! Eating everything!
...
They're like a Biblical plague.Take a drive through Rocky Mountain National Park to Steamboat springs, and then let us know how you feel about the mountain pine borer.

[salinqmind]

Take a drive through Rocky Mountain National Park to Steamboat springs, and then let us know how you feel about the mountain pine borer.

Yet another part of the plague! And let's not forget the grossest of the gross - tent catepillars! :eek:

[The Second Stone]

Damn Yoko!!!

[Hung Mung]

Damn Yoko!!!

Dude. It's been, what, 30 years? Time to let it go.

[The Second Stone]

39. No.

[WarmNPrickly]

Oh! That's the little guy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_beetle) I keep seeing in my garden. It didn't look like much of a threat though. My plants are mainly healthy. I suspect it is chomping on my hops, but the hops has plenty to chomp, it still looks strong. I will say that the map on wikipedia needs to be updated, I'm outside it's range according to that map.

We have tons of other beetles around here though. As we were putting the garden together I was squishing the larve right and left. Will pesticides hurt my worms?

[Furious_Marmot]

Has anybody tried Milky Spore?

[Princhester]

Has anybody tried Milky Spore?

Wouldn't you just eat them (http://news.softpedia.com/news/The-Largest-Squirrels-Marmots-74434.shtml)?

[Faruiza]

When I was a kid, (and much less concerned about how evil it was to do things like this) I looooved those things. They're really beautiful in a way, and they make a neat toy. We used to capture them, tie a string to one of their back legs and fly them around the yard like a little motorized kite.
Hours of fun!

[The_Peyote_Coyote]

salinqmind hit on the best way to stop the little fuckers. Plant some grape vines away from your garden and the colopterous invaders from Dai Nippon will eat those in preference to anything else.

I say this from experience. I have several wild grapevines to the west of my house and nearly every year, the Japanese beetles go after those and leave my garden, which is to the south of the house, alone.

Squash Vine borers are also a damn menace in Indiana, and it's a pity they cannot be eliminated from the ecosystem.

[WarmNPrickly]

salinqmind hit on the best way to stop the little fuckers. Plant some grape vines away from your garden and the colopterous invaders from Dai Nippon will eat those in preference to anything else.

I say this from experience. I have several wild grapevines to the west of my house and nearly every year, the Japanese beetles go after those and leave my garden, which is to the south of the house, alone.
...

I bet this is why they aren't bothering me too much. I'm surounded by wild grapevines. The damned grapevines are more of a nuicance than the beetles.

[Captain Socks]

Have you tried those bag-a-bug things? I seem to recall that they work well

In my experience, the trap attracts more beetles than it catches.

[Furious_Marmot]

Wouldn't you just eat them (http://news.softpedia.com/news/The-Largest-Squirrels-Marmots-74434.shtml)?

Nice try, buster. The last time somebody offered me some nice grubs, it took a week to get the damn radio collar off.

[Oslo Ostragoth]

They're leaving me alone this year, because it is cooler and wetter than normal. :cool: A couple of years ago it was a different story entirely: the effers were everywhere, eating plants and biting me. :mad:

[Rhythmdvl]

Have you tried those bag-a-bug things? I seem to recall that they work well.
In my experience, the trap attracts more beetles than it catches.

Seems the University of Kentucky (http://www.ca.uky.edu/entomology/entfacts/ef451.asp)agrees:
Japanese beetle traps are sold in many garden centers. Commercially available traps attract the beetles with two types of baits. One mimics the scent of virgin female beetles and is highly attractive to males. The other bait is a sweet-smelling food-type lure that attracts both sexes. This combination of ingredients is such a powerful attractant that traps can draw in thousands of beetles in a day.

Unfortunately, research conducted at the University of Kentucky showed that the traps attract many more beetles than are actually caught. Consequently, susceptible plants along the flight path of the beetles and in the vicinity of traps are likely to suffer much more damage than if no traps are used at all.

In most landscape situations, use of Japanese beetle traps probably will do more harm than good. If you experiment with traps, be sure to place them well away from gardens and landscape plants.

[Zebra]

I suppose White Male Beatles are OK with you?




Racist!

[MsWhatsit]

Not quite sure why this is in the Pit, but anyway, we've (knock on wood) not seen too many of the dang things so far this year. Although, some of the volunteer tomato plants that I let go do have lacy leaves, so maybe they're just hiding from me.

[The Tao's Revenge]

Seems like the traps could still be useful as flak. Put them near the plant you hate the most, or near the yard of the neighbor you hate the most, and distract them from the good stuff.

[Stink Fish Pot]

They are not Japanese beetles. They are Asia Pacific Islander beetles.

You racist.

ETA: Thanks, Zebra for stealing my thunder.

[Sailboat]

They're everywhere! Eating everything!

It appears you've been visited by the Japanese Beetle Fairy (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=11357816#post11357816).

I had to do that.

[Max Torque]

Has anybody tried Milky Spore?

I have. It works well, but it has drawbacks. For one, it only works on the grubs, so if you're already infested with adult beetles, all you're doing is preparing for next year. And you have to reapply it pretty often. But, it is effective against the grubs if you use it correctly.

[Kalhoun]

Take a drive through Rocky Mountain National Park to Steamboat springs, and then let us know how you feel about the mountain pine borer.

Now that's an ugly little fucker, ain't it?

[Gatopescado]

Racist!

[Qwisp]

Has anybody tried Milky Spore?

It works but be sure to follow the instructions and apply it as many times as required. It takes a while to build up. I just wish I could get the whole block to use the stuff

[monavis]

They're leaving me alone this year, because it is cooler and wetter than normal. :cool: A couple of years ago it was a different story entirely: the effers were everywhere, eating plants and biting me. :mad:

It is cooler and wetter here and that is why I thought we were having more beetles than ever. I use rose dust and that helped until the rain washed it off. Now I have a Bayer product that is rain proof after one hour and is supposed to last for 30 days. So far there haven't been any more....time will tell.

[Jackmannii]

If it's the Bayer product I think it is, it worked once, for maybe three weeks, and the next time I tried it the beetles were back chomping within a few days.

For some reason the Japanese beetles seem to have left/croaked/next generation burrowed into the ground early this year. I haven't seen any significant numbers for a couple of weeks (usually they're pestilential into early September).

V-JB Day in mid-August - I can live with that.

[Morgyn]

I've hated those buggers ever since I woke up early one morning in my bed because I felt something trying to tickle my lips to discover one of those THINGS crawling on my mouth. Bear in mind that when I sleep, I tend to breathe through my mouth and you'll get a better understanding of the horror this induced.

I've hated almost everything with more than 4 legs ever since. *shudder*

[Number]

I think they're pretty decent. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8Ku8WHPlX0Oh, so it's not just a clever name.