There seems to be occasional confusion in this thread between fruit beetles and Japanese beetles.
I am mostly concerned with Japanese Beetles. They come in a few weeks every year and destroy everything in their path.
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They are likely hatching from the soil underneath the fruit trees they ravaged last year. You can help break the cycle by treating the soil under your trees with a larvicide Fall through Spring. NOP larvicides are available.
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That’s my plan. I missed applying it last year, which is why I am in this situation. Plus, I can only do so much to control given that my neighbors do nothing. So, I’m more so interested in spray applications (if anything is effective).
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@HunterHomestead
Somewhere on this site or maybe this thread (@clarkinks
?) there are details about “bottle” traps that are far more effective than sprays.
My only concern with the traps is that I heard anecdotes that it may draw more to your yard. The last two years I have used the traps and caught many bags full of them with good success. But, I wonder if I just draw the entire neighborhood JB population to my yard. Plus, when I did use them they still found the orchard.
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Unfortunately, they do not sell the catch part anymore.
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Also Oriental beetles are a problem in my area. Rescue has an attractant for traps that works for both Japanese and Oriental beetles.
Do you know how big it is? I think the green part come off, but yellow is one piece, so it will be interesting task to put it trough the bucket or trash can lid.
Also, I am still debating if the trap is way to go. I used pheromone trap once for cucumber beetles and that was BAD…
Found this:
Also here are few interesting suggestions
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I disagree with that article. Perhaps there are events where there are so many beetles that nothing will stop them but that is not typical. I setup one trap on one side of my yard where Japanese beetles where eating Echinasia flowers. The damage stopped but in an area 100 ft away the damage continued.
Their statement “one thing we do know is Japanese beetle traps do not reduce beetle feeding” is nonsensical. If beetles are trapped and killed that is a reduction in the beetles. If the attractant used is effective the beetles go directly to the trap. If authors are saying it doesn’t work they are using inadequate traps and attractants. Also their only advise was to “live with them” or tap them into soapy water.
As mentioned previously Milky Spore, when applied correctly, can control the problem and one treatment can be effective for many years.
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I read that Assassin Bugs eat Japanese Beetles—wondering if anyone has tried buying some from Arbico to control beetles? Thoughts?
I think they’d be grossly outnumbered.
Praying mantis and ladybugs are great because they are much bigger compared to their prey. One praying mantis and ladybug can consume many prey in one day.
Assassin Bug won’t have much size advantage over JBs and is not on a strict JB diet.
Wikipedia lists some other species as JB control.
Several insect predators and parasitoids have been introduced to the United States for biocontrol. Two of them, the fly Istocheta aldrichi, a parasite of adult beetles, and the solitary wasp Tiphia vernalis, a parasite of larvae, are well established with significant but variable rates of parasitism. Tiphia vernalis reproduces by locating beetle grubs through digging, and on finding one, it paralyzes it with a sting and lays an egg on it; on hatching, the wasp larva consumes the grub. Istocheta aldrichi instead seeks out adult female beetles and lays eggs on their thoraxes, allowing its larvae to burrow into the insect’s body and kill it in this manner. A female I. aldrichi can lay up to 100 eggs over two weeks, and the rapidity with which its larvae kill their hosts allows the use of these flies to suppress beetle populations before they can themselves reproduce.[3][19][20]
Hummingbirds are one of their favorite prey.
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Recently, mantids have gained some notoriety for preying on larger animals such as lizards or small birds. Generally, the species of mantids native to North America—including the Carolina mantid (Stagmomantis carolina)—are not large enough to take on prey as big as hummingbirds.
There is more to the U.S. than the native region of the Carolina mantis. Western manti are well-documented predators of hummingbirds. Further, much of the eastern U.S. suburban areas are overrun with imported manti due to well-meaning gardeners.
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I have found both in my yard… The Japanese beetles win out by sheer numbers
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