So where are the Japanese Beetles this year?

14 years ago

I've been waiting for the invasion, but haven't seen nary a one. It's not just my yard, in case you were wondering. All over the city, I've seen lots of trees that are usually devoured in full, glorious foliage this year.

I'm in Huntsville. What about the rest of the State?

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Comments (8)

tedposey
14 years ago
Good Question. I'm hoping the few bitter cold days we had last winter killed them off. I saw two a day or two apart on our confederate rose bushes but none in my vegetable garden, apple trees or the pigweed they seem to pefer the most. Lol I'm in Rainbow City, suburb of Gadsden, on the shore of Lake Neely Henry.
I've not had any serious infestation of any insects. Did have a couple of squash vine borers
scandia
14 years ago
They are all in my yard...beetle reunion in New Market..
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Thankgod Japanese Beetles are gone for the year!
Q
Comments (19)
I still have plenty here, although the numbers are dwindling. I'm picking about 50 a day, down from about 80-100 a day. They are lighter than previous years, but still refuse to go away. Most years they're still around right until the killing frosts, so I do hope I can manage a few unblemished blooms before summer wraps up. Some summers I was picking HUNDREDS each day, so I feel this year I'm getting off easy. Funny thing is, everyone says that if you grow grapes the jb's will leave your roses alone, since they prefer grape leaves. I have grapes, and they don't touch them. I grow strawberries right next to a huge rose garden too, and they don't touch them either. My dad has grapes and the jb's are all over his grapes. 'My' jb's prefer roses to anything on the earth. Perhaps its because I have so many roses, not just a few, but hundreds. I'm the only one in my area that grows roses, and in fact, the only house for miles that even has a lot of gardens since its mostly woods around here. I feel like every beetle in a 5-mile radius comes here to enjoy the smorgasbord.
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How bad are your Japanese Beetles this year?
Q
Comments (6)
gldno1, you are Very Lucky if that's all the JBs you ever see! Christie, BNs are safe for humans and pets and earthworms. Here's a link that tells what grubs they like to attack...and I don't see anything in the list that I'd want to "save". At the time that I was putting the BNs out, I felt a bit like I had bought the "emporer's new coat". You get this piece of sponge which is about 3 inch x 5 inch x 1/16 inch thick. You soak this in a 5 gal. bucket of water and then use that water at a rate of about 1 cup per gallon to put on your areas. You see a very pale yellow color when you first squeeze the sponge out....then no color at all when you dilute to the strength called for. As I understand it, I may need to re-apply in a couple of years. Here is a link that might be useful: info on BNs
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Anyone else notice there's a lot less Japanese beetles this year?
Q
Comments (39)
DublinBay, you said you were hoping to find some rhyme or reason to the beetles population growth/decline. I think it is very unlikely that flooding or excessive rain contributes to their downfall, considering the highly conflicting reports. However, I’d like to hear more from others who experienced severe LACK of rainfall last year, as I did. It’s a fact that the grubs need the fleshy grass roots to do well, and if the the grass is brown and dead from lack of water/rain (as ours was), it is unlikely many grubs thrive. I think this contributed, at least somewhat, to the lessened quantity of beetles I have experienced this year. Granted, if one lives in a neighborhood and there are well watered lawns all about, this wouldn’t be the same. I live in the countryside, and there were no green lawns, no pastures, barely any weeds by the end of summer. Impossible to irrigate miles of hayfields. lol any of you experiencing some relief from The Little Green Devils, do you remember if your summer was rainy or excessively dry?
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Haven't seen a single Japanese beetle this year
Q
Comments (33)
Lantern flies are up next, thousands of them. At least those tend to leave my things alone, look pretty when flying, and neither sting nor bite. Hopefully we come up with some sort of Bag A Bug trap for them soon, which I'll happily put up. Mark: "If a linden tree which gets devoured each year, and is now mostly brown, is removed, what would be the impact on my roses which are about 30 meters away?" One can never say, really, but JBs do like roses. You might be able to use a Bag A Bug trap to move them off the roses, although those can attract more JBs than they disperse if used incorrectly (although, over the years, on average the numbers will go down when using them if you also render the property the bag is on toxic to the bugs). I also spray the rose directly with an insecticide that renders it, supposedly, toxic to consuming insects for 2 weeks. It does seem to work, though. Since I did that, it keeps blooms even during JB season.
...See More
catbird
14 years ago
scandia: Sorry you're stuck with them, but I'm glad they're not in my yard. Haven't seen a one here in Gadsden.
rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
Original Author
14 years ago
Scandia, it's interesting that you've been hit hard by the beetles....I'm just down the road from you in the part of Huntsville where I live.
jeff_al
14 years ago
they've been long gone in the auburn area but they were here at their normal time and found my roses and japanese maples tasty, as usual.
outsideplaying_gw
14 years ago
Funny I just saw this and was asking myself the same thing a few weeks ago. I saw a few...mostly in the veggie garden...one or two on the JM, but for the most part they obviously visited elsewhere this year. I did not spray a thing this year either.
haley45
14 years ago
They're gone now in Moody, but they chowed down in my garden earlier this Summer.
ala8south
14 years ago
Well, apparently they were in my yard in Dothan. That's the only thing I can figure can eat on leaves in that way. Fed on my Confederate rose and a hibiscus.
swll

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So where are the Japanese Beetles this year?

Comments (8)

tedposey

scandia

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catbird

rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
Original Author

jeff_al

outsideplaying_gw

haley45

ala8south

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So where are the Japanese Beetles this year?

Comments (8)

tedposey

scandia

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catbird

rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7Original Author

jeff_al

outsideplaying_gw

haley45

ala8south

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rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
Original Author