JAPANESE BEETLE CONTROL

   This article is about JAPANESE BEETLE control.
It will explain why they are a pest and what
needs to be done for controlling infestations.
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   Japanese Beetles were first identified around the
turn of the century as being a problem pest in the
United States. They probably arrived in our country by
being transported in the root system of some plant. Once
planted in our soil, this pest quickly took advantage
of the luscious plants, shrubs and trees gardeners and
homeowners like to grow. Today, this beetle emerges in
early summer and will eat just about anything we like to
grow around the home. The end result will hurt the tree
or plant they are feeding on and may lead to it's death 
if left untreated.  This article will provide some basic
information about Japanese Beetles and then explain the
best methods and materials to use for controlling them.
Since these pests are stubborn and persistent, we will
present the quickest and most acute methods for control.
   Japanese beetles live around one year. Eggs hatch
in the fall, feed before winter and then overwinter by
going deep into the soil below the frost line. In the
spring, they will come back up to the top of the soil,
pupate to adults and then emerge as the flying pest we
all love to hate. Initially, the adults will seek just
about any plant on which to feed. They love roses, birch
trees, purple plums, crepe myrtle's, dogwoods and cherry
trees. However, no plant with succulent leaves is safe.
This feeding will lead to massive destruction of leaves
within a short period of time. The loss of leaves can
be devastating to certain plants making them more vulnerable
to fungus and drought. It is important to identify which
plants the beetles prefer on your property and then make an
effort to minimize the loss these plants suffer during 
the feeding time. Japanese beetles will feed for several
weeks. After they have their full, they will mate and
lay eggs. Females will lay 50-100 eggs in the grass and
turf around your home. These eggs will emerge in late summer 
to early fall and begin the cycle again.
   Although most conventional methods of control 
will instruct you to treat in the fall after the eggs
hatch, the author will provide three methods of treatment
which will get immediate results - regardless of the time
of year. Since a complete Japanese Beetle control
program needs to take place around the calendar,
there is always something which needs to be done
every spring, summer and fall. These methods will
help to minimize plant loss and stop the further 
reproduction of local japanese beetle populations.
   The first priority for any homeowner or gardener
is to save the sensitive plants and flowers you own.
As stated above, check your property and plants to see
which ones are most likely to receive beetle activity.
Once these plants have been identified, liquid treatments
with a product called PERMETHRIN will prove to be very
effective at killing feeding beetles. The residual of 
this product will keep new beetles away from the plant
for up to a week forcing them to go elsewhere. It
will provide quick knockdown as well so current
populations will leave as you treat. To get the
spray to work as well as it can, you will need
to add some SPREADER STICKER to the tank mix.
This is a material which enables the Permethrin
to coat plant leaves, stems and a lot more of
the plant than just what you spray. It basically
allows your spray to "spread" out over treated
surfaces really well - something which is very
helpful since the adult beetles will many times
be feeding on the underside of plant leaves
and foliage. When treating, be sure to have your
sprayer set with a wide spray pattern during the
application. We have several SPRAYERS which will
work for this job and the better the coverage, 
the better the results. Now if you have a small amount
of plants to treat, you might consider CYONARA RTS.
It comes in a handy "ready to spray" quart jug.
Just hook it up to your hose and you can get 
right to work. 
   If you have really sensitive plants like roses
you may have to be careful spraying it weekly. Part
of the components of any emulsifiable concentrate
will have a tendency to injure plants since it
uses some oil base to keep it in suspension.
This oil, as small of an amount that is part of
the finished gallon, can injure really sensitive
plant leaves. To avoid this from happening, use
the PERMETHRIN DUST. This is a dry formulation which
will quickly kill as well as repel adults for up
to a week. Most importantly, it won't hurt the plants
in any way. Apply it with one of our HAND DUSTERS
and you will be able to get great coverage quickly.
If you have a lot of plants to treat, get one of
our DUSTIN MIZERS. This device will allow you to 
cover vast areas quickly. With the optional DEFLECTOR
which is listed on the Dustin Mizer page you can treat
the bottom side of plant foliage quite well.
   If you have a lot of plants to treat, dusting 
is not a practical option. We do have another spray 
which won't hurt the plant in any way yet it will
provide a really long residual. This concentrate
is not a real Emulsifiable Liquid like the Permethrin
listed above. Instead it is comprised of thousands
of little capsules with the active ingredient stored
away protected. There is no need for oils or other
solvents which could inadvertently hurt your plant.
It has no odor and when applied, it will not only last
3-6 weeks but it has a very unique "Stop Feed Action".
This happens as adults go to feed on treated foliage.
They will actually be able to tell it has been
treated and will either move on or eat a little bit
and die. Most will move. DELTAMETHRIN is what you
need should you be looking for the longest residual
coupled with no plant damage and Stop Feed Action.
Be sure to use it with our Spreader Sticker along
with one of our Sprayers to enable you to get good
coverage when treating. 
   The second priority is to lure away as many of
the beetles as you can. This is done with BEETLE TRAPS. 
Don't use them close to plants which the beetles
are attracted to. Place traps as far away from your
plant life as you can. In fact, if a neighbor wants to 
use traps, try to locate your traps as close to theirs
as you can. The big problem with traps is they lure
many beetles to your property which may have never
come there in the first place. Japanese beetles are
not the best flyers and tests show they will actually 
miss a trap by several yards about half the time they
are following the scent from the trap. If your trap
is placed away from plants you want to protect, the 
beetles that miss the trap will probably go to some
wild plant or a neighbors yard and miss yours all
together. If your trap is close to beneficial plants
you want to protect, the beetles are likely to miss
the trap and find their way to what you are trying to
protect! The author has observed several homeowners
who were so proud of all the beetles they had collected
in their traps yet were amazed that so many were still
on their roses! Don't let this happen to you. Use traps
to lure beetles away from plants; place them at your 
properties edge or in a wooded lot by wild food.
   The third priority deals with stopping the cycle.
This is done by using a grub control product in the
fall. One of the best is a product called MERIT. It is
both easy to apply and lasts a long time. Apply it with 
one of our GRANULE SPREADERS to get equal coverage around
the yard. Remember, the grubs will be feeding through 
late fall and as the ground frosts they will
simply move deep. Merit will penetrate the soil, kill
active adults before they move deep and then stay in
the soil throughout the winter. The following spring
the Merit will still be active when adults rise
back up. Though the product is designed to last for
the whole year, you will get much better results if
you treat in the fall and then again in the spring.
This insures you won't have any break in the residual
due to excessive water or other weather conditions.
   Now that you have treated with the long lasting
granules, don't think you have done all you can.	
One of the best times to treat is in late spring -
early summer as adults conclude their annual feeding
frenzy. This is the time immediately after female beetles
get their fill of food, mate and then lay eggs
in the root systems of grass. The secret to timing
this treatment right is to watch local populations of 
japanese beetles and try to determine when they have 
finished feeding and are mating. After beetles emerge in
the spring and begin to feed, at some point they will
begin to mate. You will then be able to observe masses of 
beetles mating and some seemingly connected like a train
forming links which may include several hundred beetles.
Immediately after these mating orgies, females will 
land in turf areas to lay eggs. Expect to see this
happen for one to two weeks during which time you will
need to make one or two liquid treatments. Your treatment
will serve two purposes. First, it will kill any females
which are attempting to lay eggs. Secondly, if you use
CYFLUTHRIN for this application, the adult beetles will
be able to detect it's presence and stay away from
treated turf. Apply the Cyfluthrin with one of our 
HOSE END SPRAYERS to get proper coverage. Even though 
the granules you should have applied are supposed to 
be active long enough to get the beetle larva
when they hatch, spraying with Cyfluthrin insures you
will be able to "nip them in the bud" just in case
you don't have enough chemical left in the soil
to provide adequate protection. Although it is not
likely that you will be able to stop local populations
from growing, you will be able to control the ones
trying to use your grass as their nest. Since plants on
your property are most vulnerable to beetles developing
immediately around them, keeping populations down in
your turf will prove helpful in reducing attacks in the
spring.
	Japanese beetles can cause massive damage to plants 
around the home when left to eat as they want. To get
them under control, you can spray plants you want to
protect with Permethrin or Deltamethrin along with
some Spreader Sticker. Apply the long lasting Merit
Granules in the fall and spring to stop developing
grubs and be sure to spray with some Cyfluthrin in
the spring/summer over your turf so no females try
to lay eggs there.
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