Your friend should know that Japanese Beetles love sod and can be as happy in a lawn as in roses.
Now about your attitude.
There is something you should be doing right now: trap them and drown them. Low environmental impact, highly effective if you start trapping as soon as they emerge from the ground.
Some folks will whine that beetle traps attract beetles. Well, duh.
But if you trap and kill them before they reproduce, then you are making a significent dent in next year's population.
Your roses are going to attract them. They love rose scent. Once they are on your roses, their pheromones are there to attract more beetles.
If you add Japanese Beetle traps , you're killing them not only for this year, but for the future.

We used the Beetle Traps and really reduced the local population. Then we got two years of severe drought, and that all but finished them off. They will be back, and we'll be ready to trap them before each female can lay forty (40) eggs each year.

I did the beetle traps as well for 2 years. End result was that I attracted MORE beetles to our quarter acre than I had ever seen before and suffered more defoliation than I had before ever setting the traps.

If you set traps, I suggest you set them on someone else's property, far from your own lawn and roses.

Unfortunately, JB's aren't a lawn-by-lawn problem. They aren't even a regional or local problem--they're a hoard that attacks an area several states wide.

We did have better luck after switching to lawn-based grub control, but they come back nonetheless. The neighbors simply don't have the same cornucopia of plants that we do (and I suspect others here are in the same boat), so the JBs eventually move to where the grass is, literally, greener.

It also helped when we let the lawn dry out. Then again, you're talking about a difference of maybe 5 beetles per plant less than we had before. Without effort, there's about 7-8 JBs on each plant. With effort, maybe one or two. It's alot easier to smite them with the Hand of Death when there's only a couple on each plant.

I think I'm going to take a really nice, close-up picture of a dead JB & then blow it up & post it around my yard. Can't decide if it's a hanging in effigy, or if it's supposed to serve as a warning to all other JB's who might trespass.

Welltraveled - that DOES sound very amusing!

I heard that if you crush them & put them in your bird feeders the birds will develop a taste for them & go after them.

I talked to an entomologist from the university about the japanese beetles. He said that drowning them does make a dent in their population, even if you don't see it right away. He also said that the beetle populations have been declining in areas where they have been there for at least 10 years. So if you've had beetles for several years, their numbers might be about to go down. They think it is some sort of infection that gets them when their numbers get too high but they aren't sure.

I'm not sure that Milky Spore would work here either, but I figured I'd give it a try. My roses attract most of the beetles in the area so I figure I've got most of the eggs laid here too. It can't hurt anything, and it's even possible that my milky spore could mutate to a more cold hardy variety.

I've got some roses that I use as a trap crop. The beetles usually don't do any real damage to the rose since they like the blooms better than the leaves. But my fruit trees need their leaves so it is much better for the beetles to eat the roses.

They seem to prefer lighter color or yellow roses. I had one yellow rose that they used to devour, but it became diseased and I got rid of it. I haven't seen that many JBs in the past few years. I'm not sure why.

Just try to kill as many as you can.

Does anyone cut off their blooms? i thought about doing that, so theyd go elsewhere, and hope that the roses bloom again in a month. It seems like they are easing up in my area, but then my roses look awful so maybe they moved on!

Lily I think you are wasting your time doing that. Two of my worst three roses are once-bloomers that have zero blooms left on them but the tops of the bushes are skeletonized. :o(

Has anyone heard of this idea? Collect a mass of jb's and then blend them with water in a blender. Then spray that on your plants.

I read that in a pamphlet on gardening ideas. I guess the ideas is that the jb's produce phermone of terror that the jb's can smell so they leave. I thought about doing that in the south but never got past the okay, where can I find a garage sale blender to try this. Then the jb population pretty much decreased to almost nothing, so I never did it. I had heard the local extension agent say that after a number of years the birds begin eating them.

Harborrose, no that won't work. Ditto, dolls and roses, they won't eat them. You are right in that milky spore is ineffective in the north, our state entomologist no longer recommends it. Besides, it doesn't matter what grub control you use, if you have plants that the beetles are attracted to, they will fly in from other yards. I have killed enough of the beetle population over the last few years so effectively in my yard that they no longer lay eggs in my lawn. But they do in the neighbors', and just fly in from there.

And don't think that there are any roses that they don't like. It may appear one year that they are not interested in a certain rose or two, but next year they may be all over it.

The best thing to do is kill every single one you see, and encourage your neighbors to do the same and apply grub killer.

Veilchen hits the nail on the head. No matter how successful our efforts are, if the JB battle isn't a joined effort with your neighbors, it's pretty much futile.

I had to chuckle a bit at the mention of the terror hormone. That's why I intended to hang the photos of the dead JB's in effigy around our garden.

I have noticed certain of our birds chasing & eating JB's in mid-flight. Don't ask me which birds, because I have no idea. It's even more common to see them picking the grubs out of the lawn earlier in the JB season, as they are just emerging. However, we have regular June beetles that arrive at almost the same time, so I can't be sure which grubs the birds are eating.

Thanks, everyone, for your input. I talked to my next door neighbor this morning, and he hasn't seen one JB on his stuff! He doesn't grow roses, and I find 95% of "my" JB's on the roses.

My brother-in-law is having his vegetable garden and roses devoured by them. A few years ago he put Grub X down and the grubs came to the surface by the thousands and then birds ate them. He felt so terrible about the health of the birds that he never put grub killer down again.

I have had an attitude adjustment and now multiply by 60 each JB that I drown. I would say I am picking off 40 a day so that's a lot of progeny who won't exist. One interesting thing is that we had moles in the lawn last year but no sign of them this year. But more JB's.

Barb (off to drown beetles)

The terror thing is so horrible and funny. I might feel too creepy whipping up JB Terror Paste in my blender.

One year a shop vac was used to vacuum the rose blooms of jb's.

I recently talked with another rose grower who works for a major US company that makes pesticide safety equipment & he was hearing a lot of positive info about a new JB control that was coming from the Ag industry---JB's a big problem with corn & soy beans. He figured it would be 2-3 years before it is available unless some problem showed up in the final testing. He seemed excited about it but wouldn't (couldn't???) share much else, as his company does some business with the Ag industry. Anyone else heard anything like this? The JB's are really starting to show up in my garden again...........AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

Heard nothing, not a word, here in Ag central. I'm surrounded by corn & soybeans, and there has been no talk in the papers or the news of anything coming down the pike for relief.

It's one of the main reasons why I pick my battles with the JB issue. Even if homeowners are able to wage a successful war & keep these buggers out of our lovelies, we still have millions of acres of corn & soybeans around us that continue to entice JBs to our area.

I just came in from a lunch break outside, and one of these *#&(@ nasties flew right up & blipped me in the nose!

They are subsiding in my neighborhood right now; I've only seen about 5 each morning and evening as I make my rounds. They're still very thick in Springfield, where all of the urban Linden tree plantings are giving the JBs plenty of food & shelter....not to mention all of the green strips getting watered every day.

I'm with Ann on the traps. I have trapped and killed thousands. I figure I have prevented the birth of millions. Yes, I may attract them from other yards but I am killing them before they multiply. Several years ago I trapped 27 bags in five days and I mean overflowing bags. Each year I have seen fewer. Last year I had less than 25 jbs and this year I have just seen the first three. So it is time for me to put up the traps. I put one on each corner of my yard, then use the soapy water to drown the few that make it to my roses. By the way, I don't use the bags anymore but use Ann's modified milk jug traps instead.

That may be what happened here too. I used the traps one year and had thousands. They were all over everything. I had to resort to spraying not only my roses, but my crepe myrtles and my neighbors cherry tree which was getting devoured. Since then, not that many. So if you are willing to do it one year, the traps may be a way to lessen your JB population for a few years at least.

I think I saw one this year. I saw some damage that looked like JB damage, but only one actual JB.

You should have seen what they did to my peach tree the year before I trapped all those. Ate the peached and left the pits hanging on the tree in one morning! after that I have used Sevin on the peach tree when it is about time for the JBs. It's the only thing that I spray.

Several years before that they ate my field of corn. Started at the top and ate the kernels all the way down the cob, and came out a hole in the bottom.

It's funny but they seem to like this one weed better than my roses. don't know what kind it is but it gets tall and has little yellow blooms. I think it is kind of stinky but they love it. I hang one trap near it to catch them coming to it.

The best thing I ever did was get a bug zapper. I then took those JB attractor things they put on the bags and stuck it to the bug zapper and about 4 hours later I had a pile of beetles almost a foot high under it. dead beetles make good fertilizer too :)

Ick....a pile of them smells almost as bad as a pile of dead cicadas. I believe the smell coming from a pile of dead JBs also attracts more of them to the area.

I can't & won't put out traps because I can't afford to sell my house right now. It would be necessary to move if the neighbors ever discovered that I put JB traps out.

However, I have to admit that I like the bug zapper idea. I can just see myself sitting on the deck with a mint julep and a cigar, laughing maniacally while watching all the JBs fly to their death. Great entertainment for a Friday night!

I tried using my BB gun. They were thick enough to wreck havoc among them. "Hee- Hee" like sounds echo around the valley as Foghorn quickly exits before the police arrive. But your Honor; It was self defense.
I could try the insanity plea. It would be easier to just pay the ticket. My friend is the Animal Control Officer (no leeway there for sure.)

When my kids were little they'd get badmitten rackets and zap them! Then I'd get out there and have fun with them. :)

Love the bug zapper idea. If I ever get infested with JBs again, I'm going to try it. I wish it would work with thrips.

July, 17, 2015; chicago 5b: oh no, no no. Oh Lord, they are HERE. Roses! The JBs are attacking you! Quick! Drop your petals and hide any buds until mid-August!

Two JBs flew in my hair last night, and my whole neighborhood prob. heard my screaming, as i was rushing around, flipping my hair like a "head banger" to get those >shiver< THINGS off me..

Those @$%# JBs freak me out, I have nightmares about them, due to a horrid childhood experience. My sis and I left dry JB-free Colorado, flew to Wash,. DC to visit my Dad. WE dropped our stuff inside and went outside to poke around. Suddenly, I feel something on my face. I jumped and brushed at it. Then I took a REALLY good look around. Why, practically every few seconds or so those horrid bugs landed on some body part. We were shocked to see literally thousands flying this way and that thru the air, devouring EVERYTHING growing in sight. What WERE these creatures and do they bite? I mean everything, there were even foot- high dead carcusses at the foot of fruits trees and roses. ( unless they were in 2000- strong orgy....but I didn't know of those kind of adult things back then.)

My Dad, not one for squeamishness, kept throwing us outside to play, and we kept running to the back door, pounding on it, screaming and crying to be allowed back in the safety of the house.

Today, I decided to make a spray concoction of the one oz left of severen, (or was it Danocel?). I added soap, tons of hot sauce,1 % milk (for black spot...its been a very cold rainy summer), honey and topped with a little water. Im gonna spray my victims with hairspray to hold them down... then try to kill em. A sort-of Organic solution which took me a few hrs to make, and prob,. totally worthless.

OMG, I just peeked outside, they are doing the "horizontal ramba" on practically every bloom. My heart is beating very fast with fear. I'll put a towel 'round my head, yeah.I can do this! Update later...

Aw nuts. now it's raining. Again.

Speaking of easily amused, I took dead JB's and set them on the flowers as a warning to what will happen to those who come near. OMG they became part of the orgy later in the day.

Then I saw funnel web spiders in their hideouts so I threw a live JB in each web. They come out and check their catch. Immediately ripped a hole in the web JB falls to the ground, then fix the web again.

I found one beetle in a rose bud. Happened to be smelling it & thought I saw something. Sure enough--a greenish shiny irridiescent looking beetle. I went through all the bushes & roses , didn't find any more-- (haven't had a bunch of blooms due to the the cool weird weather this summer. Lots of buds & some starting to open--but not a WONDERFUL year for blooms). Anyway, can anyone post a picture of what a beetle does to roses/leaves? Thanks.

What does a funnel web spider look like?

The spiders is nicknamed for the type of web they build. You will see a web then somewhere in the web it funnels or spirals down. The spider stays down in the funnel to await her prey.

Sorry, but yuk. I know spiders are good, but they still creep me out. I wonder if they are kind of triangular shaped & brown with shorter, stubbier legs. I see webs by our bushes & have seen these spiders sometimes scurrying around by the grass & bushes.

Japanese beetles eat rose buds and blooms. They skeletonize the leaves.

I have been keeping a beetle bucket of doom, flicking any I find into it, and I've left the same water in it for about 2 weeks now. It's nice and disgusting and I haven't seen a beetle in my yard in about 10 days. I also leave dead ones on my plants. It seems like there are less in my area this year compared to last.

I found those lil' buggers I found eating my Blue Girl roses earlier this year. I didn't know what they were at the time, but I carefully cut the afflicted roses into a ziplock bag and tossed into the trash. That was the last I've seen of them.

Heh....I know what to do, go to the neighbors that cause you the MOST TROUBLE to you and your family since you moved there. Hide a bunch of JB traps in their undergrowth!! Go out with a pen lite at night and collect the full ones! I'm just JOKING, but it IS A BIT of a cleverishly demented idea!

I'm think of the man whose dog always leaves a surprise by the hydrangeas when he thinks we aren't watching. ( oh, we are....it's just that he is a big dude with a big dog- we know its him, the poops are in same spot and the same size/color...oh...sorry for the TMD. ) our dog is big also, (a beautiful walker coon hound) but she is basically a chicken. Never barks when the doorbell rings, barks/howls only when she wants in house or is hungry. Then her howls can send shivers down people's backs all over the neighborhood.

here is a trick that bears to be tried: anyone willing to experiment?⬇

On another post a person, SOFl, suggested a shop vac or a dust buster!

It is funny that I came upon this post because I am tired of dealing with JB this year, well my dad mostly since he is retired and would go and pick them up. My mom wanted to get rid of all the roses. My dad said he noticed that they started to chew on the beans leaves now that the roses are not flowering so much. I do hate them...the beetles that is...lol. I am contemplating to cut all the flowers off to discourage them. However, does it really works? Would they just move on and destroy the beans or grass?

I have seen them eating morning glory leaves and Virginia creeper within the last couple weeks

I mentioned in another thread, I found a dead one in my pocket.

I have been crushing them and letting them drop -- but worry that I am releasing their pheromes and just attracting even more?

jjpeace.... If you see this I tried taking off buds and blooms. I really did a good job getting every single one off. The beetles ate the foliage waiting for the blooms.

I'm just ignoring them, except when giving them the finger. Luckily they seem to like the daisies more than the roses.

Oh Jeez, I don't think I want them to eat the rose leaves. That will definitely kill the plant. They just nibbled a bit on the leaves so far but left them mostly alone. I guess just let them eat the flowers then.

I stopped leaving the outdoor lights on at night after noticing how many were hanging around them. I don't know if it does any good though.

This is the first year in which they haven't been an issue--only seen about a dozen of them.