My husband is down in TN this week visiting a friend, so far he hasn't seen any.

Here in NJ, they've been here almost 4 weeks, yesterday was the worst day.

This picture gives you an idea of what I'm dealing with. They are on my yellow primrose, the plant on the left yes, it's a weed. There are so many JB's that I can't get near that garden to weed. The JB's are nasty, they hit me in the face get stuck in my hair.. just gross. {{gwi:295015}}From Wildlife - bugs etc

*I am also whispering...*the japanese beetle population is down for the third year in a row. Other than a meager attempt to drown them in soapy water, I have taken no action to cause the reduction, but welcome it wholeheartedly. The belief is that the years of drought have made the ground too hard for the females to lay eggs. Here's hoping for complete extinction.

Kathy

Whispering as well as they are bugging me. You'd think that with the wet spring, that would have cut the numbers down, but they were swarming all over today, even caught a couple with my soapy water in mid air. I wear a cap and stuff cotton in my ears B4 making a sweep after reading a horror story.

They say early morning and late evening, but so far I've hardly seen any in that timeframe yet, could change. The worst is 11:00 to 3:00 when the sun is hot. That's when I get the most, but they are friskier and more get away. And in the end, is it really doing any good drowning them? Yes and no.

That is sickening. Here is a suggestion, may horrify, but they seem to be swarmed on that one plant. No way can you pick that many off.

Put on a hat, stuff cotton in your ears, and cut off or cover and shield any flowers nearby. Get a spray bottle or two of Bayer dual action Rose and Flower Insect Killer, if you can find any.

Put on goggles, put on double dust masks with a bandanna wadded inside, long shirt, long pants, rubber gloves and maybe surgical inside those (I don't like chemicals). Or use a respirator as the best precaution. Or wait until hubby gets back and see if he will deal with them.

Spray those suckers. They'll fly away, but if you zap them good, they will die. It has residual action for 30 days even if it rains. I swore I wouldn't use it again, but bees and pollinators only go for blooms, never see any sitting on leaves.

Sevin is the pits and don't know if I'll selectively spray again with that or not, depends on how bad it gets. Can't find the concentrate for the Bayer above, but it would be easier to clean out of my dial sprayer.

Then maybe you can do something to deal with the grubs. Milky Spore would work better in your zone than mine, I think. I'm trying Grubex first, not recommended if growing vegetables, I'm not.

Killed one last Friday. Been away all weekend. Not sure I'll see many more, 'cause I only have about 15 blooms in the yard right now, including a cute Lagerfeld. I'm getting Milky Spore this year...

Surprisingly not really bad at all. Last year was such a nightmare, so I was needlessly braced for the worst.

Killed two more this morning and missed a third.

I've seen maybe a dozen so far this year...squished them in situ in the blooms :)

Eric

cincy, I've been doing some of the squishing, too, and leaving them on to hopefully discourage others. Some fall off from that though.

I'm learning from observing them. They seem to prefer the sun, probably the hotter the better. When it's overcast, there are still some out there, not flying around and tend to congregate on certain spots in higher numbers. They don't like rain and seem to sense when it is imminent but can't count on it. After rain, they seem worse maybe because they may need to make up for lost time.

At least they so far seem to be leaving a few things alone. Since it's frustrating to stalk them and miss especially when they fly away, I discovered if I can get my soapy water squarely under the ones I'm after w/o shaking the foliage too much which alerts them causing them to drop to the ground and miss the soapy water, and hold my hand cupped over them, trying to move in from behind them so they tend not to do that high alert thing and fly up, it tends to make them drop more readily and not attempt to take off.

I'm talking about strategy during their high activity times. By dusk, I'm not finding many at all but they are easier to nab then. So I definitely need to patrol 11-3. I could stand there the whole time and catch them as they land, obviously not about to do that. There seems to be one week later on when they are at their very worst, then gradually start tapering off.

Diane.. I think I'm killing the majority before they hit you. I never had this problem at the old house.

What I posted on the primrose, they are like that on everything. I worked in that garden yesterday, took out the weeds, cut down what I could. I still have 1/2 a garden left, stopped when I ran into poison ivy. That is my most neglected garden since it's in the back against the woods, we have snakes; my neighbor told me a snake was in his tree so I'm a bit freaked out.

Aliska - I have 3 bags up. I changed the bags Monday night, as of this morning they are almost 1/2 full. My ritual has been that when I go outside to smoke, I walk around with the spray and spray them directly. I should keep my hair up, my hair is really long, they buzz me, one got in my hair this morning next to my ear, it was gross. If I catch them on the ground, they get sprayed. Right now I have seven but to kill them instantly (well quickest) the rose pride is the best, I also like ortho Max.

Shockingly they are not bad here. Don't know how I got so lucky.

Carla

roselvr, I ordered 3 Bayer yesterday and am going to carry that along w/my soapy water. I wanted the concentrate but couldn't find it so I can spray my smaller trees.

I could try your others; I want instant or close to it kill. With the Bayer they fly off, and I can only hope it gets them later like Sevin sometimes does. I was thinking of mixing the right dose of Sevin and putting it in a spray bottle but others have more or less dissuaded me from using that. I like to walk around in my shorts, long pants on a lot day would be awful as well as all the rest of it, can tolerate hat, goggles and smaller mask. If I'm picking and spraying smaller amounts, I don't want to mess with gloves either, will wash well after.

For now, I'll see how the Bayer goes, sure a waste to spray my trees with the spray bottle size but HD was out of either kind and couldn't find any concentrate on the web. Maybe I could have with your products.

I hope you are gaining on that battle. Sounds like you need Roundup for that poison ivy. I've got to do a few chores with that but too tired after picking beetles.

It's raining a lot again today. Least I get a break from the beetles.

If you guys are missing them and want a reunion, come to my house.........they're all here.
-terry

I'm almost afraid to say this but so far this year I haven't seen one----Last year was the same---maybe one or two----sure hope they don't hear me---they are the "pitts"

Sue---I've never ever seen that many all at once---YUK

Florence

Aliska, the Ortho Max also comes in a 25 pound bag of granules. We put that down last year along with me drowning them (at 1st) until they were as bad as what I have now; I don't have time to try to pick them off when there are so many, plus most will get away and I do not want that. I'm not sure if hubby put anything down this year.

I've found that they are at their worst from noon until 5ish, it seems the hotter it is, the better they like it.

Right now I'm using spray bottles, while not cost effective, it's been easiest for me. I'm almost positive the Ortho Max is sold as concentrate as well as a hose end sprayer bottle.

terryjean, I remember your posts from last year. You got them REALLY bad. My heart goes out to you, wish we had more weapons in our arsenal that are safe for everything but those blasted beetles.

Did you ever find out that lady's combination of dishwashing liquid, lemon juice and vinegar that she claimed drove them away? Maybe it was coincidence and they moved on anyway. I never found it or tried anything like that.

You would think spraying with some kind of soap so they couldn't fly, but nobody claims anything other than insecticidal soap. I'm going to try 1/4 cup dishwashing liquid and water in my gallon sprayer and see what happens. Yeah, it'll scorch my lilies and other plants if I spray in the hot sun.

In addition to my other strategies, I'm going to try this in the front and back yard where I find the most, right smack in the middle for the rest of the season, smell be **#$@ed:

"Kill the first Japanese beetles you see in your garden. It's important that you catch them early, so keep watch for them, particularly around the second week in June. Fill a bucket with water to which you've added a quarter cup of dish soap, and dump the dead beetles into it. Set it in your garden in an area where you've had bad infestations before, or select a spot that gets good airflow."

I was thinking what bucket(s) I could spare, and have some kitty litter ones I picked out of trash for protecting plants this winter. The last beetles I threw in the toilet smelled pretty bad after a few days, have some "brewing" now. I did dump the first dead ones in the garden, and I haven't seen so many in that spot now, but who knows? The eggs could survive.

How about a bug zapper at night? Read when people empty them they are finding June bugs and Jap beetles in them in the morning.

Thoughts, anyone?

Here is a link that might be useful: Use their scent against them

I was writing my post while you wrote. If I hadn't spent so much on chemicals already, I'd get some Orthox max for sure, maybe next year or if I get desperate enough, don't know how bad they will ultimately get.

In sheer numbers, I'm not drowning that many but enough to consume my time and hard in the heat plus it's affecting my nerves really bad knowing I have to pick and whatever for weeks more yet. I'm trying a multi-pronged approach (see my most recent post above).

All I went through to spray the Sevin, helped for three days until it rained. No way am I spraying that more than every seven days and probably not any more because it's going to be too hot to suit up and raining just too much.

Hi Aliska, how are you? Yes, they're here and yes, they're bad again. About the same as last year, I'd guess. I'm still drowning them in the soapy bucket of death.

I never did hear back from the lady who claimed she had the recipe to kill the beasts, so I'm skeptical that she did indeed concoct such a spray. I wonder if she was just shooting her mouth off for the newspaper publicity. Besides, vinegar isn't good to spray on plants, I think. It usually kills them from what I've read.

I'm resigned to just drowning them because I will not use any insecticides because I refuse to harm my fat bumble bees and hummingbirds, plus my cat Tabby roams around my gardens. I've researched JB sprays and I'm just not willing to use anything that potent, so it's the pail for me.
-terry

I've had a horrible JB problem (thousands)for the last few years. My sandy soil is perfect for laying their eggs.
Prior to when the JB emerge I also have Rose Chafers and this year Rose Slugs. Lucky me hey?
Hand picking beetles it futile.
Theres just too many. Hoards of them. (sigh)
I have tried just about every "natural" spray with zero -little effectiveness. The one from Ashdown Roses, "Bye-Bye Beetles" is virtually worthless IMO. "Rose Pharm" works so so. As far as chemical sprays go I've avoided them but have used the Bayer Rose & Flower Spray when desperate and I feel its the least offensive/toxic using the same chemical they use in cat and dog flea preparations.
I just spray it at dusk to avoid bee's.
I couldn't find the concentrate this year so I bought some Sevin in a moment of desperation when the Rose Chafers where at their peak and sprayed once.
I did put down Milky Spore last year.
I had to spend a couple hundred because I have my roses spread out over an acre of land.
But thats suppose to take 2-3 years to fully kill the grubs in your soil so despite less mole activity this spring and *so far* less beetles, I'm wondering if I'm being premature on thinking I actually have less JB's this year? ...I'm just waiting...
Not getting my hopes up too high, but just MAYBE the Milky Spore has gotten some of the little bast****!

I'm wondering...how well does the bucket of dead beetles work and is it worth the effort and stench?

Maybe ten so far--negligible when you have over 100 bushes. For some reason they are being crowded out by oriental beetles--which are several times more numerous but don't cause as much damage.

Does anyone know what eats JB's and poops them out whole?
I'm finding a lot of what looks like "eaten" JB's but they are not digested. The poop isn't big, I'd have to say thinner then what used to be used for clothes line. It's about 2 to 3 inches long.

I'll have to get a photo.

roselvr, they say starlings, sometimes ducks, a few other birds, but it must be a critter, wish some would eat mine. I wouldn't like the excrement but sure would like to see them dead like that.

Speaking of excrement, I found some the other day, can't be my cat that was loaded with seeds, rolled that down to where the rain runs off so nothing will grow there, worried about the seeds.

This morning I found a nasty and sizeable pile of it in the front yard in the grass, very loose couldn't have that, so scooped it up with toilet paper and flushed down the toilet. Ick. Didn't want to take a photo. Think it might be a coon? Haven't seen any evidence of deer but they're nearby.

Today it was supposed to be 90ish and humid, so I was expecting JB's to be bad. It was only in the 70's, overcast, sunny later, if I got more than 15, I'd be surprised.

Could the hard, constant rain we had yesterday drowned some or could it be because my rose blooms and buds are cut off and the Sevin I sprayed is still holding a bit, haven't found any on a willow, a couple on huge rose clump, and mostly on my cherry trees? A few in front but nothing as bad as last year yet. I'm sure I'll still be fighting them in greater numbers as it gets hotter.

I moved my bird bath to the middle of the rose bed and I think the birds are getting the JB's. I think I have seen about a half dozen so far. (knock on any wood I can find). Instead of JB's this year, thrips and some little grasshopper looking thing is after my roses this year. I'm not sure what it is. I don't spray for bugs, but I am thinking about it.

Mary

After looking on the internet I think the green grasshopper thing is a katydid. It is living on my Gertrude Jekyll and she looks pretty poorly. Lots of leaf damage. Is the damage from the katydid or do katydids eat bad bugs? I just want to know before I breakdown and start spraying.

thanks,

Mary

mary, there's a recent thread about katydids in FL in this forum. The general consensus is that they are a pest.

My advice if you decide to spray, and I can't say as I blame you, is to check if they kill bees. I tried Sevin, it kills bees but only sprayed plants with no blooms or chance for any more this year. I have Bayer Rose and Flower Insect killer which I only plan to use on same or if I do spray just a bloom where they are really swarming on another plant (I took all the buds off my roses), I will immediately cut off the bloom because it has residual action after rain unlike Sevin which washes off and becomes ineffective. Also the other poster uses Ortho Max?, I don't know if that affects bees or not, most chemical pesticides seem to.

For sure, spraying will kill beneficial insects along with the pests, so I wouldn't spray it on everything to minimize that.

Much as I would like to use an organic product, I'm reading too many comments that they do not work very well if at all plus I'm not keen on repellants because they will just go off somewhere else and continue their destructive and breeding cycle.

Here is a link that might be useful: What are these? posted by sherryocala in FL

I did some looking and I think what I have is the katydid nymph. It has a smaller body than an katydid. gross, no matter how ya look at it. I have only seen a couple on Gertie, but the leaves look terrible. But it is better than a hoard of JBs.

On our property, bag trapping for a decade seems to have paid off. I've seen maybe five (and decapitated same) so far, and I used to see the first one June 6 or 7. I would have given some credit to the horrific drought of the past three years. But I'm not sure how much the drought has done.
In our corner of the world, most of the soils are a hard clay under a couple of inches of topsoil. In some places there's almost six inches of sandy loam left behind by the river. So we do have soils that the beetles could dig out of.
About two tenths of a mile to my north, a neighbor was talking about the beetls damage to her snap beans. They farm the ten acre field to between us and them and I wonder if they harrowed it at the time this spring when the beetles could have used help escaping....and again three weeks ago for a second crop.
Trees I look for at this time of year to see how bad the beetles are are the honey locusts and or black locusts. The beetles so skeletonize the leaves that the trees stand out as a muted light brown. This year, overall, the locust trees look better....BUT (dang) for a grove of three of them between us and Blaine that are totally skeletonized. Those beetles offspring will be around to reattack us in a couple of years.

June Bugs are also missing. They look like JBs but are about three times the size. They aren't as damaging, but they are also rose eaters.

Heck, maybe the mole populations have built up to eat the grubs in our part of the world. Which means the black snakes will have more food....and on and on.

For the last three weeks plus my hens have not been out due to new landscaping project going on, and not wanting them to use the new site for dustbath (poultry fence gowing up around it tomorrow).
Anyway, no JB's at all for the last two years, with freeranging hens out most days. This year - I am seeing them again.
I believe it is worth washing the poop off the sidewalk to have no JBs. And only 7 hens.

I wish I had hens, doubt I'll move to the country now, but it would be worth it just for these 6-8 weeks. But lots of mine are high up, I guess sooner or later they have to come down to lay eggs. So the hens would be pretty useless for the damage high up in my trees.

I can certainly see how traps would be useful if I could position them surrounding the property, like if I had an acreage, don't know how many anntn6b uses, but I'd put at least 6 or 8 out then. If they have to fly over your plants to get to the traps, it just makes things worse, and I can't put traps down on the green strips by the streets (corner lot).

Anyway, I will try to get a bird bath, probably not this year, don't want to make a hasty choice. Also I do think my numbers may be down from what I had last year, hope I can get the grub stuff down and do that right. I've got a bucket of stinking bugs in it but doesn't smell that bad yet and not like terryjean's bucket photo from last year. Does not phase them.

What she has is enough to drive one mad. I could tolerate them if they didn't do so much damage and reproduce so many. BUT letting them sit on my cherry trees just draws more in, they're like that because they emit something that attracts more.

Really, they like my cherry trees the best which are young, and two once blooming roses, am not finding very many on other rose leaves, quite a bit of damage on some leaves of former, so I have to keep them picked off even if there are only a few, go out 4X a day. Like maybe 20-30 today, not really bad at all. Just have to tough it out and get as many as I can.

Still, I'm in for the duration as long as I live here because in spite of cutting off all my buds (has helped I think), they will still fly in.

roselovr, I can't say any have dive bombed me, but I keep my hair up now anyway and always put my cap on and cotton in my ears just in case, do not want one stuck in my hair or ear(s), not likely the latter but read a horror story that may not be true for all I know.

I'll use my stuff up and try Rose Pride next, but I don't like to spray in the daytime, not only bees (aren't around some of my stuff) but when the sun hits wet leaves, it scorches them. Early morning and late evening, I'm not finding but about 2 in front and back. So far anyway.

I am afraid to say this out loud but I have so many less than I did at this time last year. I treated with Milky Spore last year but I can't imagine it would have made this much of a difference in a year?

It's been a month. I'm finding them to be horrible from noon until about 6 or 7pm. They seem to love the sun.

Couldn't get my hands on rose pride; picked up seven again. When I'm up to going outside to walk around; I grab the spray. I'm spraying the JB's directly, if there is a bee near the JB I won't spray. So far I am not seeing any dead bees.

We have so much wildlife. Every day last week while my hubby was in Tennessee I had a turkey family come from 5-6pm, complete with 10 little babies. My son took a picture of a deer munching on my daylily leaves. I've had a turtle. Have at least one small snake that I know of, plus a few spiders that are eating the JB's but the spiders can't put a dent in the JB population.

My hubby spoke to a friend of his that lives in the sticks of Pennsylvania. He seems to think the baby turkey's are the ones making the JB poop I'm seeing. He said that or raccoons. Something keeps eating one of my JB bags.

Hubby brought home Crepe Myrtle from TN; within an hour of his unloading them, they were loaded with JB's.

Going to try to get pics uploaded today.

I found six of them on a Rugosa leaf cluster this morning. Knocked them all into a pail of water. Just been a minor nusiance this year, especially since they come after the rose shows.

Almost none this year. Last year was lighter than usual. The previous 3 years I had many thousands. I want to tell myself that my constant war against them is the reason there are few now.

I had a turkey family come from 5-6pm, complete with 10 little babies.

They are here but out in the rural areas. I think they do eat JB's (evidently can't digest them) but have read they can be a nuisance. I would love to have a chance to photograph something like that.

My son took a picture of a deer munching on my daylily leaves.

I love all wildlife, even deer, but if they started eating the flowers that so far have been better in some ways than others, I wouldn't be a happy camper, and double fences are certainly not an option. Snakes didn't freak me out as a kid, but I'm squeamish about them now because of the startle factor. If I know they're not poisonous it's not so bad.

You strategy seems reasonable under the circumstances, and if they get that bad here again I will be doing just what you are. Most people are ignoring them because they're buzzing around other places, but they have no idea how fast they can get out of control.

I can't help being reminded of plague years recorded in history. Imagine what our ancestors went through. One consolation is that we don't depend on our flowers for food for the winter like they did where a bad year spelled terrible hardship.

Keep up the good fight, yours might be gone soon now but in some areas they are hanging around much longer than normal. I will watch for the photos. I appreciate your sharing your plight and your battle strategy.

I need to pick up some good netting for my cherry trees; maybe that would work on the crepe myrtle which we don't have here, don't know how big they get.

I have chickens and ducks and they do not eat Japanese beetles.

I had about 10 no more than 15 today, some sun, overcast, and windy in afternoon. Odd for 22 days into it. My oriental lilies are opening, they don't usually bother them, but I found one deep in a bloom, have found occasional ones sitting on lily leaves and buds but no apparent damage.

Having cutting off the buds must be helping a little plus the unseasonably cool weather, never remember such cool weather for weeks now in summer. Or maybe the winter and heavy rains killed some larvae and newly hatched ones off. Maybe the stinky bucket is helping. Plus they're much easier to grab or flick off leaves and single flowers and not have to dig down into a nice fully double rose for a swarm of them.

Sun must be the key. They are always the worst in hot sun. It could get worse before it's over. Or . . .dare I hope it will continue to be this manageable?

Some chickens won't eat them I've read, but apparently some do.

I had 2 to 3 dozen yesterday, with a large group munching on Rose de Rescht leaves. Yes, the typically come out after hot weather. But, they aren't bad in the sense that I can still cut roses that look good in the vase close up. I'm sure they release pheromones that attract more JBs on areas that have been visited--so I leave those ratty areas/flowers as bait.

I see signs of damage, but I haven't really seen a lot of JBs. This is the 3rd year in a row that they haven't been a problem. I'm not sure what I did, but I'm probably going to put down some more milky spore. I can't cause another drought and I don't want to put traps up again, so that's the only factor I can control.

Here in Baltimore County I haven't seen many at all, here and there on roses and such, but nothing terrible. There were some years I remember being able to pick and drown at least 20 in a two foot radius. Damage is evident on some roses and leaves of hibiscus and our azaleas, but I'm rather tolerant of leaf damage, probably more so than others.

So in general rather low, which doesn't surprise me since last year there weren't many either. We trapped for a few years, killing perhaps into the hundreds, not including the water bottles I filled with water still in them. Some customers at the nursery I work at are complaining of bad damage but I dont see much going on.

Maybe having lots of zoyza grass and clover/violets and not obsessing over our lawn and making it "veal" for grubs has rendered the area not very popular? I cant see why not though. Perhaps more and more people are using milky spore? We advertise it rather well here....

I tried the dead stinky beetles near the roses.
I sat a nasty- reeky container right under a shrub rose and it didn't make any difference, just made me gag.
The JB were still on the rose blossoms.
Ditch that idea!
My number have increased over that last week
but still MUCH lower than previous years.
SOO glad I put down Milky Spore last year!

Not too bad - I believe it has something to do with our viciously cold and long winter. We had 22 below F here. We are also having a very rainy spring and summer... or maybe they are just late. Normally they are July 4th. While I saw my first that weekend - they have been very light.
We were just in WI and they were parts that had really bad JP beetles up there. There was one water park that had dozens of them floating dead in the pool. ewwww.
Worst garden pest ever.

I just made my 8am round with the pail and the roses were covered still....got the nasty buggers before they could fly away because they were covered in dew.

SC...had the same -22F temps in January, but they still managed to survive. You're lucky; I was hoping they froze, but no such luck!

I don't like to say it for fear it will bring bad luck, but I put the stinky pail (and I can't really smell it, put 1/4 cup or so of dishwashing liquid in it - think it's for inhibiting mosquitoes) between the two cherry trees. Maybe one or two on those which had been a problem. But no, otherwise isn't helping. Still haven't sprayed any more though, can if I decide to.

It's not deterring them from certain other things they like but I keep picking them off relentlessly. I'm also hesitant to say I'm not getting the numbers I had feared if I keep picking at least 3X a day, pretty much know which plants they prefer and sun on them is a huge factor but will find them in shade as well. It could be our harsher winter than usual and also the heavy rains this year in addition to the unseasonably cool weather for many days.

terryjean's morning method is probably good because I think they might spend the night underneath leaves, but I don't see many early at all. They seem to be mostly flying in now or coming down off my trees. I found that if there's a swarm doing the group thing, I have a better chance of getting all of them if I cup my hand over them and move in and tip carefully into soapy water. That seems to discourage them from trying to fly up and away but still some do get away. Then they grab onto my fingers, and I have to work them off. I use a cottage cheese container because it's easier to maneuver under plants without spooking them by disturbance than a pail.

Yesterday there was a bumblebee and beetle sharing an echinacea. I got the beetle, spooked the bee but didn't get stung.

Obviously in the numbers some have, spraying is the only method.

I've caught a couple in flight and see them flying around, sometimes watch where they will land and into the soapy water they go, can't stand out there all day.

I was digging and see a few on the ground. One I grabbed and lost it, was looking on the ground, felt a bite on my arm and startle reflex kicked in, looked down, there it was on arm by hand, got it into the soapy water. So maybe they will bite, felt different from their stickery feet but could have been that.

Neighbor tried diatomaceous earth sprinkled on their hibiscus, said 15 one day and 1 the next. But I don't know if that kills them or repels, worth looking into.

Gutters are bad so in front I collect runoff in pails and use to water the garden also to get the hot water out of the hose. A few beetles are in the yellow bucket (further research needed on making rotten fruit traps in yellow containers, think not this year). None in the white pail so far but set that out just the other day.

Got my Grubex down just before a substantial rain, didn't get complete coverage but better than I thought I could do. The following days I see granules so I call the 800#. Those are just the carrier and will eventually break down but the rain should have gotten the active ingredient watered in. Hope so. A shower won't do, need substantial rain. We'll see.

Read up on how it affects farmers and commiserated with our ag ext guy. He's reduced to using Sevin on his raspberries, concluded that gardening will be different from now on. Sevin is not popular on the forums, but there are charts on how many days beforehand it's safe to spray food crops. If you don't buy certified organic, some of what we buy in the stores has surely been treated with something. I prefer not to use it because it gets washed off in rain and is messy to deal with but have it for backup.

The beetles turn soybean leaves to lace but have to be pretty bad before it affects crop yields or requires spraying, there are more potent chemicals professionals use we can't get. The corn silk, usually they attack the outer rows only on fields so far, but it's nasty to see a photo of 15 or more beetles on the silk. It it gets eaten down to 1/2 inch, and the corn hasn't pollinated yet, there will be no corn. But if it's already pollinated, doesn't seem to affect it, just nasty.

No sign of a good eradication effort in my area, and may get worse due to people doing nothing and not knowing what they are. I hope the scientific community (or savvy lone experimenter) comes up with something better and more foolproof, probably not in my lifetime but I keep hoping.

Decided to let my roses start setting buds again Aug 1, will see how that goes. Time to make the first sweep of the day.

Finally uploaded the poop pics
{{gwi:295016}}Wildlife - bugs etc
{{gwi:295017}}From Wildlife - bugs etc
{{gwi:295018}}From Wildlife - bugs etc

Next to a Marlboro butt so you can see the size
\
{{gwi:295019}}From Wildlife - bugs etc

This one the JB's are closer together like it was semi-digested {{gwi:295020}}From Wildlife - bugs etc

As far as JB's.. STILL HERE!!! although they are not as bad as they were but still bad; if that makes sense. I am not seeing any in the morning, it's from about noon until 6 still; and usually in the sunniest spots. The bags are not filling up like they were, I replaced them Monday night, hardly any in them. I don't know if that is good or bad.

The turkey's were back yesterday, 6 adults, as many babies. They were going nuts in every garden we have, my guess eating JB's. So hard to get pics because they hear me walking in the house.

Saw my 2nd turtle the other day. He was in our driveway, almost under my son's van. I moved him to the back.

Haven't seen any more snakes - thankfully!

August 8, I still have JB's. This is 2 months now.
I haven't been out the last few days, when I went out last night there were about 10 or so clumps. I'm going to try to get out today. I've noticed a few neighbors have put bags out, so maybe that's why I'm not seeing as many.

One neighbor in a house we originally planned to buy said they attacked her Crepe Myrtles. Funny how she & her hubby bought them the same week we did.

I've noticed a lot of birds in my yard, one actually flew in my garage. With the birds being here, I'm not sure if I'm going to continue to spray. We have seed eaters (cone flowers) and bug eaters; although I don't know if they eat JB's.

They're here in greater numbers than last year. At Tuesday's meeting of my local Rose Society, the general thought is that they do not leave until the first freeze, which is usually around NOVEMBER T3 for our area.

The JBs are shredding the leaves off the Black Locust tree in my shade garden, and I even noticed a couple on my Peace Lily that I take outside and put on my front porch during the summer. My garden is in tatters, and I'm beginning to wonder if it is even worth it to try to grow roses. I spend so much $$$ on fertilizer for 250 roses, only to provide a banquet for these horrible insects. If they're here from the end of June through winter...what's the point?

Roselvr, I need some turkeys! I actually had a wild hen walk through my front yard about 6 weeks ago, but she hasn't been back. I hear them once in awhile in the woods in back of the house. Wish they would show up in my gardens!
-terry

Unbelievably, I have not seen a single JB in the garden this year, and we passed the seasonal peak in mid-July. This is the consequence of three consecutive drought years (06-08) in a neighborhood where people don't irrigate their lawns much.

Thanks for the updates people. The guy who does my lawn sprayed his cannas with Ortho Max (red bottle?) and said they leave them alone, may need a second app.

Roselovr, thanks for the photos, sickening but instructive and those turkeys or birds are helping for sure icky though that is. Wonder why they bother if they don't digest.

I'm still picking. Kept a diary last year and last one was August 26 after several days of not seeing any. There aren't that many now. Right now they love my huge potted plumbago of all things, but finding more on that means less on other things.

I finally sprayed the Bayer on a once bloomer in back, my two cherry trees, a huge once bloomer, and the pussywillow. Still finding a few on those plants. Still have the stinky bucket between the cherry trees and hardly find any on those but think it's because the leaves are more leathery now.

Like roselovr, I'm beginning to wonder if it is worth it to try to grow roses if this is the way it's going to be. The repeat bloomers I miss so many weeks of bloom by disbudding them. They will still go after some of my other flowers unless I get rid of them all, a few hardly ever find any like lilies, very few on shiny leafed bushes but lots in blooms if I let them bloom.

In numbers, the most are about 50 a day which isn't that bad, just such a nuisance to have to go out 3-4X a day as they can do a lot of damage in a couple hours. I have to be home almost all the time to stay on top of it.

Anyway, I got my Grubex down, had a little left so scattered that by the worst places. Got lucky and had a good rain after both apps. Hope it helps but I can tell a lot of them are coming in from elsewhere. But they are starting to die off because I found two pulling weeds under my birch clumps.

Locally they have completely defoliated the tops of some new linden trees at the chiropractic college, but my neighbor tells me green shoots are starting to show above the brownout on the tops of the trees. Oh, they were gone and doing nothing about the beetles during their honeymoon. So they come back and find 15 on the hisbuscus. Said they wetted them down and sprinkled diatomaceous earth on those and only found one the next day. Probably have to repeat but it's organic but you shouldn't breathe it. Food for thought.

They don't bother any of his plants except a crabapple in front and his hibuscus. My other neighbor says not too many. I told her that's because they all seem to be in my yard :-(

No way to anticipate whether next year will be better or worse since so little is being done about them.