I have some JBs, but am really getting hit with oriental beetles this year they’re everywhere…
I had some lawn damage last year from grubs and am now figuring it was probably from the oriental beetles.
Anyone have any recommendations on turf grub protection, preferably organic? I know there’s milky spore but I think that only handles JBs. I think I may use a non-organic approach this fall to hammer them but would like something less aggressive for the future.
I just looked up oriental beetles, I’ve been getting them and big orange “June” bugs every night! I knock them into a cup and squish them with a stick, then toss them into the compost.
I caught about 3 full gallons of japanese beetles and had to keep pouring off the “betleguese” throughout the year, we are pretty dry so i think evap plus irrigation were pretty equal and i just used water glycerine dish soap and some cheap veggie oil to keep the smell and smother capabilities going!
Milky spore handles a variety of beetles similar to japanese beetles but you can use grub gone or beetle gone which is BTG (bacillus thuringiensis galleria) and that will kill them and is organic. For the adults a bunch of the essential oil or vegetable oil sprays will smother or kill them on contact, I am doing essential oil sprays as a deterrent on my seedless grapes.
@LarryGene could you please help us identify what bug @Beetree has that is eating the JB? Thank you!
This bug doesn’t mess around with JB’s either. It’s been chillin in my garden for the past few weeks picking em off in flight. Cool to see.
There are several strains of beneficial nematodes that are supposed to kill lawn grubs, including Japanese beetles. I used some from Arbico Organics last year.
It is hard to know what the effectiveness of the nematodes are. I did not have major grub damage last year despite a healthy crop of Japanese beetles and very larger number of masked chafers. But i still found probably 2-4 grubs per square foot in some 4’x4’ spots where I scraped sod off to put in square foot garden beds this spring.
Great shot!
Pyganic is effective on Japanese Beetles. Use with appropriate caution as it can also kill pollinators. I use it late in the evening on my beans so the pollinators are mostly gone for the day. Pyganic has very little residual activity the next morning.
So, I had a theory that last years picking and killing was a great investment. Wrong. It was just early in the season. I’m getting pummeled just like usual as of today!
I set up 3 Japanese beetle traps around my orchard. They were swarming the bags before I even got them staked and set up. I went back after 10 minutes and the whole corner of the bag is full already (50 some beetles??).
Crazy how well they seem to work already. It seems like this bag is going to be full tomorrow. If this bag fills up in short order, I’ll be making one of those 5 gallon bucket or garbage can DIY ones or sure.
This morning I watched the sparrow pair spooking them off of my tall flowers then catching them mid air. I cheered them on.
I found them swarming my mallow flowers
@shein33
OH NO!!! I’m working on the same ‘theory’ as you . . . that if we get as many as we can this summer - next summer won’t be as bad.
I know that a couple of years ago we noticed that there were almost no Japanese Beetles. I never found out ‘why’. Maybe a cold snap interrupted their cycle?
Ours are on the downturn, now. I only find a few stragglers each day on the pomegranates . . . a few on the apples, roses and hibiscus. (We took out the cannas which were a real magnet.) The Santa Rosa plum is a mere shadow of itself - after they had their way with it! But there are still a few on that, too. Nothing like a couple of weeks ago, tho.
Which brand of trap did you use? We used ‘Safer’ I think . . . and did not have that great a result.
Go with the sterling rescue traps then cut the bag out and put it in a gallon container or a 5 gallon bucket or a trash can cuz you will catch a lot. Rescue makes all there traps in america and if you ever have a problem you can call them and they will fix it. I am hand catching 50 - 100 a day right now, i hope this is peak JBs.
Marigolds trapping the JBs from my garden
Pretty light here still… killed 2 today…probably 30 or so i’ve killed this season…almost all on sweet cherry and some on raspberry leaves. Seems about normal for me (the amount of beetles) the past few years.
I’m using the Rescue traps.
Sorry to hear about the plum damage. I’ve got less damage than last year which is just a result of being on to of picking them by hand. The trap is definitely helping. I don’t get them in maybe amounts on any trees. Maybe 10-15 per. Still too many without hand picking though.
I’m gonna hit the trees with Surround tomorrow and see how that goes. I’ve read it’s a good deterrent for JB.
Well, I never hit them with surround. I went out the morning after posting this and had very few beetles. I’ve had very few since. I’d say the traps did their job. It took a couple weeks for them to hit their peak but when they did, it was as strong as ever. I put the traps up and after a couple days, there were far less beetles on the trees. I’ll be setting up traps at the first site of beetles next year.
Hoping I’m done with peak beetle season this year!
WHAT KIND OF BUG IS EATING THE JAPANESE BEETLE. I want to befriend him!
A couple weeks ago, when the JBs started to get heavy, I did a spray of acetamiprid on their favorite, the cherry tree, already harvested. That did it. The JBs are now present in only reasonable amounts and nothing seems in danger of defoliation.
Not sure man. The one that has bumblebee pattern is a bumblebee Robberfly I believe. The other one I am not sure about. Definitely related to vampires tho. 
