Japanese Beetles

In the past i remember people really liked used Sevin/Carbaryl …although i don’t even think they sell that stuff in a liquid these days…at least not locally.

I’ve also noticed that favor my sweet cherry to every other tree i have. Luckily up to now the population has been light most years…but you know how that goes.

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They still sell sevin, however they have changed the active ingredient from Carbaryl to zeta-cypermethrin. Still works really well at knocking out populations of Japanese beetles.

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OK…yeah i knew the active ingredient carbaryl you can find in the dry form for grubs but i didn’;t think you could get the liquid concentrate (i have an old bottle from Menards still) at the local places anymore…they seem to switch ingredients every few years. I’m sure a local ag place would have it and i know you can find a lot of goodies on Ebay.

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iirc I used to use that, but the other stuff is systemic and lasts long

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I found a handful of them over the past couple of days, they were eating my eggplant leaves.

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I’ve been watching the sparrows performing acrobatics close the the ground the last few days- I had a hunch they were chasing and catching j beetles, and today confirmed it after running outside right after the sparrow caught one. I felt bad chasing it off from it’s dinner but I needed to know! I am so happy as I’ve not seen birds bother with them before. Hopefully will see more of this and potentially disrupt their population level.

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Very very cool!

Spinosad lists Japanese Beetles as one of the bugs it’s effective against. I sprayed spinosad couple of days ago and still see JB munching away on my plum leaves. Has anybody noticed spinosad helping to control JB?

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The Japanese Beetles are out in full force here in NC! They are decimating my roses and have been pretty hard on my muscadines, which I now have covered with bug netting. Mild damage so far to Romance cherries, brambles and hardy kiwis.

I could drop bunches like this one into a cup of soapy water all day long. I’ve killed thousands already. :rage:

Last week the cavalry arrived! I’ve read that geese eat JBs.:smiley:
Pic of two families are that are raising their chicks here this year. One group has already begun flight training and are almost as big as their parents. The other group is much younger and still fluffy and cute. They have been spending a lot of time lately in the lawn actively eating something. Hopefully Japanese Beetles!

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Those canada geese love grass. Not sure that they will eat many bugs. Ducks like bugs though.

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I found 3 on one plum this evening in Western PA. I’ll pick them off once in the morning and once in the evening. I have some traps too but I’ve heard they just attract your neighbors beetles.

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I’ve been fighting them here in Oklahoma for about 3 weeks now. Bought a trap and it works but not getting them all. They destroyed a grape in a matter of hours

Found and smooshed about ten of them yesterday in NE Ohio.

@BeeDee . . . try a jar with about an inch of rubbing alcohol in the bottom. A wide mouth pickle jar works great. If you can’t find the rubbing alcohol (a Covid item) - then use whatever high proof booze you might have around the house! We had an old bottle of gin that was sacrificed to bopping beetles.

It’s more fun than squishing them - and less get away. (A sick little game . . . but it is like a fun scavenger hunt!) I hold the jar under the leaf or branch and give it a smack. And in they go! Or - slowly dip the leaf/branch into the jar. The bug usually slides off.
If you are willing to tackle them ‘by hand’ - this is a great ‘no touch’ method. Around dusk is when they are most lethargic and easy to snag. So far we’ve gotten rid of hundreds and hundreds of the little devils. I hope before they ‘grub up’ for next year!

They were on their way to completely denuding one of our young plum trees. But not anymore! :smiling_imp:

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That sounds like a waste of perfectly good gin!!!

About an inch of water in the bottom of the jar with a tablespoon of Dawn dish soap does the job just as nicely. Also gasoline or kerosene work great.

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I use an inch of water in a plastic jug with handle ( like a clorox jug) with half the top cut out.

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In search of a more efficient way to kill an ever increasing population of JBs, I came up this Dynamic Duo!


Of course it’s only of use relatively close to an electric outlet, but it works rather well. Perhaps a bit too much suction, so some tweaking is in order.

Just suck 'em up, lift the lid a bit and spray in a shot of insecticide. A chemical free option would be to quickly dump them into a bucket of water. A battery operated vacuum might be worth investigating…

The results after just a few minutes of work:

Edited to add that since it is a wet vac, it might be worth starting out with some water in it and just let 'em drown!

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Do they die after not being able to get out, or in the process of being sucked in?

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They die once he kills them with water or insecticide. They are pretty resilient and probably could survive the ride alone.

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