I found a Japanese Beetle on Friday. It's time to get the beetle traps out.
Bite your tongue. Haven't seen any in Lowellville yet.
I've read that the traps attract more beetles to your yard. So... get your neighbor a beetle trap. ;)
I saw about 50 today and I haven't put the trap out yet.
I'll get the bait tomorrow and then start catching them.
I look at it this way. When the beetle emerges from the ground, it could fly to a plant and spend the next several weeks devouring the foilage and then mating. If the beetle emerges and flies directly to the trap, then no foilage will have been eaten by that beetle.
I caught hundreds of beetles today. ;D
If we said "The Beetles are back" some may think Ringo-Paul-George-John... 8)
I usually pick them off but some are up high,so I think traps will be a must to get those down. I have read that there is work on a bio control(wasp I think) that will lay eggs in the grubs.I am looking forward to that bio control spreading to our yard.We have edibles like raspberries and grapes and the beetles are eating all the leaves on those plants.Milky spore is expensive but will take care of the grubs in a year or two.
We put down milky spore this year. It says it will take a couple of years to get up to full working power but then will last for about 10 years.
Jay...those hundreds of beetles you caught are your beetles and all of your neighbors beetles. Those things attract beetles to you yard that you would never have had. If they lay a couple of cycles of eggs in your yard before they make it to your trap you will have even more beetles next year. The traps were invented years ago as a means to count the beetles, they were not originally intended for eradicating them from an area. They are beetle magnets.
If you are going to remove the beetles by hand, it is best to do it in the very early morning or toward evening. At these times the beetles seem to be lethargic and don't tend to fly away as you approach. I usually place some water in a wide container. I then hold the container under the beetles and the knock the beetles into it.
There appears to be far fewer beetles this season. Maybe it's because I caught so many last year.
Anyway, the beetle harvest for this year peaked about a week ago.