When do Japanese beetles stop-

[sfc_oliver]

Well, my brother told me to get my neighbors a bug bag. I wonder what they cost?

[Smokey362]

Last summer, I put up a "Bag-a-bug" thing in our yard.  Man, that thing was ALWAYS full of beetles.  one of the neighbors came down and said "THANK YOU!!!"  I asked why?  he said "do you see any more bag a bugs in the area?" I said no....he said "you are attracting every beetle in the neighborhood to YOUR home".  makes sense.  That attractant can be smelled 1/2 block away.  Imagine all the beetles in the neighborhood coming to OUR house.  It would be fine if everyone on the street had one...but don't be the ONLY house on the street WITH one.  If you are, buy a LOT of Grubex next spring.

[Towntalk]

During the larval stage, the Japanese beetle lives in lawns and other grasslands, where it eats the roots of grass. During that stage, it is susceptible to a fatal disease called milky spore disease, caused by a bacterium called milky spore, Paenibacillus (formerly Bacillus) popilliae. The USDA developed this biological control and it is commercially available in powder form for application to lawn areas. Standard applications (low density across a broad area) take from one to five years to establish maximal protection against larval survival (depending on climate), expanding through the soil through repeated rounds of infection, in-vers can be used to exclude the beetles, however this may necessitate hand pollination of flowers. Kaolin sprays can also be used as barriers.
Research performed by many US extension service branches has shown that pheromone traps may attract more beetles than they catch, and so they have fallen out of favor. Natural repellents include catnip, chives, garlic, and tansy, as well as the remains of dead beetles. Additionally, when present in small numbers, the beetles may be manually controlled using a soap-water spray mixture.
If you don't want to spend your early hours picking Japanese Beetles off your plants, you can use insecticidal soap. Insecticidal soap is little more than a very thin mixture of household soap (try a tablespoon or two of castor oil soap first) in tap water. Mix all of that up in a heavy duty spray bottle and go to town on those Japanese Beetles. Make sure you spray both the tops and bottoms of the leaves on your plants, but be aware that insecticial soap kills off beneficial bugs and arthropods (mites) as well as killing Japanese Beetles.

Step 1
Spray your infested plants with a mild soap solution, consisting of liquid dish detergent and water. Only the Japanese Beetles, which come in contact with the soap will die... the spray has no residual effects.

Step 2
Inspect the plants, after you spray. Knock or shake as many remaining beetles, as you can locate, into a large jar of soapy water. You will find this will be quite easy to accomplish, because these bugs feed in groups.

[jay]

I've caught tens of thousands of beetles so far this summer.  Usually the beetle trap bait will last most of the season.  The bag on the trap will have to be replaced every time it fills.  Twice this past week I filled a bag in one day.

The beetle traps fill the quickest on hot sunny days with a slight breeze.

[sfc_oliver]

I'll have to ask my brother when he gets back from Virginia this week, he used to run a pest control company. (I'm thinking some bounce sheets placed somewhere.)

[connie254]

I bought a trap that was supposed to last all season and within three weeks , it's full. So when do they stop becoming a major problem? Does anyone have a link to the soap/water concentration and how to use it that is supposed to be better than the traps?