Japanese Beetles
Beetles! Beetles! Beetles! Everywhere you look the Japanese Beetles have destroyed somebody's roses, shrubs or grape arbor. People tell me that they trapped loads of beetles every year and still can't stay ahead of them. One gentleman said he paid to have his yard sprayed for beetles, two years in a row and still has tons of them on his property. My Daddy always said, "If you want to win the battle, you better know everything about your advisory." Most peoples don't know much about Japanese Beetles. I guess that's why they keep losing the battle.
We want to win, Right? Certainly! So let us find out what make's Popillia japonica (Japanese Beetle) tic. The Japanese Beetle was first discovered in New Jersey in 1916, it is believed to have come from Japan in some imported iris roots. Since then, it has spread over most of the eastern part of the country. The adult beetles emerge from the soil throughout May and June. Beetles live 30 to 45 days, and after mating, females lay 40 to 60 eggs in groups of four or five, in the soil. The eggs hatch in several weeks and the young larvae feed on fine rootlets until cold weather drives them deep into the soil. They
winter over, as partially grown grubs, below the frost line. As the earth thaws, they move up under the grass and resume feeding until they are ready to pupate near the surface so the cycle can start all over again. If you have paid attention, you now understand why the skunks and moles destroy your yard every spring and fall.
Actually, moles and skunks eat large quantities of the grubs and beetles, as do the birds and toads. Unfortunately, moles and skunks do more damage to the lawn than the grubs do. Tachnid flies and Tiphiid wasps are both parasites of the Japanese Beetle and their larvae.
Now that we have learned all of this about the enemy, we know exactly what to look forward to this fall. Skunks and moles destroying our lawns! Unless, we act fast and treat the lawn with some Milky Spore, and make a couple of my beetle traps.