Spraying plants with bug juice, or leaving a can of dead bugs on display, can't hurt, and probably helps. I had read that the JB sends a scout and then the scout releases a scent telling others it's a good spot. My experience last year goes along with that. I was in the garden, one arrived and I hadn't yet set up my can. I was working on putting my glove on, but before I could, two more came, started sexing on a leaf, and then a bunch more piled on. I ran and set up the can and started flicking them in and kept the can at hand, but also on display in case there was some kind of scent of death. The first year I had JB, I got the scout and stepped on him, then left his body on the ground. I definitely think there's something to this, although I've never been able to catch cucumber beetles quickly enough. They're tricky.

The brand in the photo is Rescue. They have a zipper at the bottom that slides like a zip-lock bag. They're hard to unzip when they're full though. The zippers on mine finally broke so I've been duct taping Walmart bags to the bottom to catch the beetles. That works almost as well. Carmen - Do your neighbors have Asian Ladybugs too or do they all go to your house? The article below says "Contrasting light-dark features tend to attract the beetles -- dark shutters on a light background, light shutters on a dark background..." Another article I read said they're more likely to enter homes that have a cedar shake roof or wood siding. They invaded our shed one year but haven't moved into our house yet. Here is a link that might be useful: Asian Lady Beetles

Carrie 18 --In zone 5 you should now be seeing a big decline in beetles, so Neem oil is of little use unless rampant defoliation continues for you. However, if you had a problem this season you may have a bigger one next summer. Fertilized females lay many eggs in grassy areas. These turn into grubs which feed on the turf roots and emerge next summer. Unfortunately there is no reliable eco-friendly treatment against these grubs. Milky spore disease and parasitic nematodes are used and available but results are slow and spotty. Scotts Grubex (or Bayer equivalent) is effective and reasonably benign, but the active ingredient, Imidacloprid, is quite toxic to some, esp bees and fish (but not earthworms). Generally bees would not be affected by lawn treatment unless, say, you treat stands of clover, wildflowers, etc. France banned Imidacloprid years ago, believing it caused bee colony collapse there. However, the problem seems to have been application to seeds, esp sunflower seeds, that lead to bee contact of the resulting (toxic) plant. Recent studies of our bee colony collapse has been intense but has not lead to any connection with this insecticide, but not to a definitive cause either. So if you see turf distress and find many grubs late this summer and fall you may need to act decisively, or battle them next summer. Here is a link that might be useful: Beetle info

The big brown furry monsters eat everything, azaleas, hostas and even nibble on the daylillies- although the local nursery lady says no. I think they get to a point where they'll try anything once!! Better at experimenting with food than my kids are. Yes, the deer are a problem, however this year what the deer didn't eat, the beetles did! I did not realize what a delicacy the roses and crab apples are to the green monsters until the other post.... Black spot and rust have been a real issue too. ALL the HEAT and HUMIDITY...... Our area has seemed worse than normal. I'm actually thiking of cutting all the peonies to the ground and burning all the stalks and leaves- no matter how much I clip and burn, more appears!! I'll look into the spore and start with the "hot spots" this fall. Under the Rose of Sharons, roses, crab apples and fruit trees, then fan out. Realistically we hang 8 bags on the forest's edge to help control, but that isn't enough. I'd like to get about a 200' circle done. Gotta start somewhere!! Love!