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.
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JAPANESE BEETLE BIOLOGY
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.
JAPANESE BEETLE YARD SPRAY
So when Japanese Beetles are active, its important to spray the plants where they are nesting and mating. Our PROTHOR is best as a foliage spray and systemic providing several months of protection when applied quarterly throughout the year.
As a surface spray, it will kill them within 1- 2 days and since its non repelling, they won’t know anything there can harm them. This stealthiness will lead to their quick demise.
ORGANIC GARDEN SPRAY FOR JAPANESE BEETLES
A stronger organic option we like is MULTI PURPOSE INSECT KILLER. It seems to work the best on hard shelled insects like Japanese Beetles. Both Soap and Multipurpose Insect Killer are certified by NOP and approved for use for organic gardening so you can use them with confidence. Most importantly, they really do work well. The only drawback with the organic products is that they won’t provide a long term residual so expect to use the Soap several times as week in extreme cases; the Multi Purpose spray less often since it seems to last longer.
JAPANESE BEETLE GRUB LAWN GRANULES
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 MAXXTHOR SG. 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. Maxxthor will penetrate the soil, kill active adults before they move deep and then stay in the soil throughout the winter. The following spring the Maxxthor 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.
Spreaders: https://bugspray.com/equipment/spreaders/scatterbox-spreader
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Johnny says
Have just been reading your info on Japanese beetles. I have about 5 acres of Grapes and Muscadines and the beetles ate me alive last yr I have a mist sprayer that I use on a 4wheeler. I would like your help with the spray that I need. I used fruit tree spray and soap after I started picking the grapes. I also have a few peaches apples plumbs pears and cherry trees that I need help with. I guess what I need is a complete schedule of all my spray needs. Thank you for your help.
Tech Support says
There are two things I’d recommend. If you start out early in the season as the plants and vines just start growing, the 6% pyrethrin applied will both control and repel all crop pests throughout the growing season. Mix it at the rate of 6-12 oz per 50 gallons of water and treat as frequently as is needed. This will vary from region to region based on local variables such as temperatures, rainfall, pest pressure, etc. The second and third option seen on our Pyrethrin product page are the options labeled for food crops and you can get this concentrate in quarts which goes a long way:
6% Pyrethrin: https://bugspray.com/catalog/insecticide/liquid/exciter-16-oz
A longer lasting option would be the Vegetables Plus Permethrin. Treatments using this active will last a good week or two and you may find this better suited for the plants early on in the growing season. The longer lasting residual means this product will have a longer “days to harvest” but if you plan accordingly, this should be a non issue.
Vegetables Plus Perm: https://bugspray.com/catalog/insecticide/liquid/veg-plus-10-perm
Sharon says
Please notify me of the pesticide I need to kill the Japanese beetles inside because they are coming into my apartment. They fly around onto my television at night and around the window seals. I don’t know how they are coming in but they come in when the weather gets warm. A friend told me about the JBB and I looked them up.Thank you for the information about how to get rid of them.
Tech Support says
We have several products that will control them once they start coming inside. The first is an aerosol that can be sprayed around window frames, door frames and basically anywhere you see them. The Dforce Aerosol will kill them quickly but it can go on “wet” if you over spray and use too much so no need to over apply it.
Personally I prefer the Phantom Aerosol because it goes on dry and is best suited for places where it’s hard to spray because it’s odorless too. The only drawback when using Phantom is that it won’t kill them quickly; it can take a day or two. But in the end it will work as well as the Dforce; it just takes a few days longer for you to see the results.
D-Force: https://bugspray.com/catalog/insecticide/aerosol/d-force-14-oz-aerosol
Phantom: https://bugspray.com/catalog/insecticide/aerosol/pt-phantom-14-oz
I also like setting up some Powder Traps. These can be placed on any window where they’re accumulating and once they enter the trap, they’ll get caught and die. Very effective and helpful.
Powder Trap: https://bugspray.com/traps/fly/fly-powder-trap
Keith Schwandt says
I have used beetle traps but I never thought there would be so many. Over a 5 gallon pail from three traps and I wonder how many more can there be. I live in SE Kentucky on a 15 acre mini farm.
Tech Support says
Two things. First, as our article above explains, the Japanese Beetle Traps will attract beetles from miles around and should only be used on the outer edges of your property line. This way you’re not luring more beetles onto your plants because if you place your traps close to plants you want to keep beetle free, no doubt some beetles will find these very same plants and start feeding on them.
Jap Beetle Traps: https://bugspray.com/traps/pheromone-and-food/japanese-beetle-traps
Second, traps are only to be used as a way of monitoring the local population and should not be perceived as some type of control measure. Sure, reducing the local population will help but the 5-10% of the local beetle population the traps won’t catch can do substantial damage to your plants. To avoid this from happening, be sure to treat any shrub, bush or flower you’d like to protect with Vegetables Plus or organic Multipurpose Insect Killer.
Here are links to these items in our cart. Please show your support for our business by purchasing the items we recommend from the links provided. Remember, this is the only way we can stay around and be here to answer your questions and keep this valuable web site up and running. Thanks for your business!
Vegetables Plus Perm: https://bugspray.com/catalog/insecticide/liquid/veg-plus-10-perm
Organic Insect Killer: https://bugspray.com/organic/liquid/multi-purpose-insect-killer-24-oz
Anonymous says
Beside spraying a tree with Savin what other steps can be taken to rid the tree of Japanese Beetle? Is there something you can place around the base of the tree that will deal well with these Beetles?
Tech Support says
As explained above, you first need to spray with Deltamethrin. Forget the Savin. It’s old technology that really smells bad and does more damage to the treated plant than any insect can normally do. Today we have products like Deltamethrin that are odorless, far more active on target pests and last a lot longer compared to sprays like Savin.
Suspend SC: https://bugspray.com/catalog/insecticide/liquid/suspend-sc
Next, treat your grass with Cyfluthrin or even better, the Merit Granules as our article above explains. This way the beetles which are mating won’t have a chance to lay eggs in your turf that can ultimately affect a lot more plants in your yard.
Merit Granules: https://bugspray.com/catalog/insecticide/granule/grub-free-g-10-lb-with-merit
Lawn Granules: https://bugspray.com/catalog/insecticide/granule/complete-insect-killer-granules
Japanese Beetle Turf Treatment: https://bugspray.com/articles98/japanesebeetle#japanese-beetle-grub-control
Mary Marshall says
I have Japanese beetles and live in California. They are in my backyard which is also utilized by my dogs. What can I use and not worry about it hurting my dogs? Thanks!
Tech Support says
Mary,
In fact all of the products listed above can be used safely where children and pets reside. Now there are some guidelines, like keeping them off the turf when you treat and until the treatment dries. But in general, these are all common sense guidelines and are all nicely explained in our “safety videos”. These can be found at the bottom of each product page in our online catalog and are worth watching.
In summary, once treatments dry, there is no inherent risk or danger to you or your pets when you apply our products properly.
For more information on product safety, follow this link:
Product Safety: https://bugspray.com/about-us/who_is_bugspray.html#safe_for_the_home
Technical Support
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