All About Japanese Beetles
Japanese Beetles are voracious leaf-feeders and cause damage to a large variety
of plants in a homeowner's lawn, landscape and garden.
Learn how to identify the damage caused by these pests and how to battle them and keep them from overtaking your garden and landscaping.
Learn more about Japanese Beetles»
Control Options for Battling Japanese Beetles
Safer® Brand offers suggestions and strategies for natural and organic Japanese beetle control that are perfect for ridding your garden of these voracious eaters. Learn how to take advantage of the beetle’s natural predators, as well as create an environment for natural Japanese beetle control.
Natural & Organic Controls
What?
Bag traps for Japanese Beetles are a popular way to control this pest in the yard & garden. The combination of Insecticidal Soap and Botanical Pyrethrinswill also kill the Japanese Beetles on contact if they are spotted on your plants.
How?
Bag Traps - hang the bag from a trap stand or an outdoor fixture. Make sure to hang the bag away from outdoor living spaces and away from your home as it has a powerful bait that will lure the Japanese Beetles in, trapping and killing them. Bag traps are typically baited with a food attractant, sex attractant or both.
As an added control measure, use a grub killer in conjunction with this trap. This will kill any grubs in the soil in case a female Japanese Beetle lays her eggs prior to entering the trap. See also All About White Grubs to learn more about the damage caused by the larval stage of this pest.
Insecticial Soap (Potassium Salts of Fatty Acids) & Pyrethrin - combined are the organic equivalant of a 1-2 knock down punch. Japanese Beetles, like other hard bodied insects, are tough bugs to kill. The soap will penetrate their shell enough to weaken and dehydrate the insect and allow the pyrethrin to absorb into the insect and do its job.
Pyrethrin is a powerful nerve agent that will paralyze and kill the insect on contact. Keep in mind this soap is not like dish detergent; it's a base from a blend of natural plant sources and pyrethrin oils which come from the chrysanthium flower. An effective and organic combination.......
Safer® Brand offers a variety of Japanese Beetle control products to help control and eliminate this garden pest and revive your plants. Please check out our Japanese Beetle control products for more details about how they work and how, when, where they should be applied.
When?
Bag traps should be placed outside at the first spotting of a Japanese beetle. For maximum Japanese beetle control, have your neighbors place Japanese traps at the same time.
Apply grub killer as directed on the product label to prevent grub damage, making sure to do one final application in the fall before the frost to kill the last of the grubs before they dig in deep to overwinter and molt into next year's Japanese Beetles.
Spray Insect Soap & Pyrethrin as a contact killer. Use in accordance with directions on the product label.
If you are concerned about a plant or unsure of how it will react to these solutions, test an inconspicuous area and wait 24 hours before applying full coverage. As a general rule, much like watering, do not use any liquid insecticides in the peak of the day or when temperatures exceed 90°F.
Why Choose a Natural Solution?
Natural solutions break down quickly to their natural elements. They are preferable to chemical pesticides that leave residuals where they are sprayed, causing long-term detrimental affects on the environment.
Natural Predators
What?
Parasitic wasps are a natural method of controlling the Japanese Beetle.
How?
The parasitic wasp lays its eggs on the Japanese Beetle and its larvae that hatch will feed inside, usually resulting in the death of the host insect.
Planting nectar or pollen producing plants may attract parasitic wasps. The insects may also be purchased by commercial growers of the insect.
When?
The purchase of parasitic wasps can be done at anytime during the season.
Nectar or pollen producing plants should be planted as an aid in attracting parasitic wasps. Most local greenhouses and garden centers can help you determine the right planting time for your area.
Environmental Controls
What?
Knocking beetles off bushes, trees, and plantings is a simple method of controlling them.
Planting certain plants, shrubs, bushes and trees that do not attract the beetles will help to control the beetles in your yard. Row covers may help protect your vegetable plantings.
How?
Take a cup or bucket and fill it with soapy water. Knock the beetles into the cup. The soap will help prevent them from escaping their wet tomb. If there are many beetles, you can shake them into a cloth first before knocking them into the bucket of soapy water.
When planting shrubs, trees, bushes or flowers that do not attract Japanese beetles, check with your local garden center to see which kinds "fit the bill." A few common plants include carnations, daisies, snapdragons, violets, pansies, begonias, forsythias, lilacs, arborvitae and fir trees.
If Japanese Beetles are attacking plants in your garden or fields, you can opt to use a floating row cover to protect the plantings from the beetles. These can be purchased at home and garden centers.
When?
When handpicking with a cup or bucket of soapy water, it is best to do this in the morning or evening when the air is cooler and the beetle is less active, making it easier to knock off the plant and into the water.
Planting shrubs, trees and flowers that are not attractive to the Japanese beetles should be done according to your climate zone. If unsure, ask at your local garden center. It is best to plant certain trees and shrubs in the fall. Flower bulbs should also be planted in the fall, while annuals are usually planted in the spring, depending on the type of flower and the climate zone and temperature of your area.
Follow directions for using a floating row cover so it can provide the most effective protection from beetles.
Tips for Using the Japanese Beetle Trap
What you need to know:
- Use the stand in this package to hang your Japanese Beetle Trap.
- Be sure to replace the trap bait when catch starts to diminish.
- Check with your retailer for information on replacement Japanese Beetle Trap Bait.
Directions for Use:
It is a violation of federal law to use this product in a manner inconsistent with its labeling.
Trap Assembly
1. Slide vanes together at the slots to form a cross.
2. Attach the twist tie by inserting about 4" through the holes in the top vane assembly as shown in the diagram and twist to secure the trap.
3. Attach one of the disposable collection bags to the vane assembly by gently sliding the holes in the bag over the cutout hooks on the lower end of the trap vanes.
Bait Placement
4. Remove the bait from its protective package. Peel the protective (marked "peel") from the Safer® Japanese Beetle Trap Lure.
5. Peel the paper from the adhesive strip on the back of the sex/floral lure (bait) and stick the bait onto the trap vane. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO PEEL APART THE BAIT. Best results are obtained by attaching the bait to the lower third of the trap vane.
Trap Placement, Application Rate, and Use
1. Place traps as beetles emerge in mid-May to early June in Georgia and South Carolina; early June to mid-June in North Carolina and Tennessee; mid-June to early July in Kentucky, Delaware, Washington DC, Virginia and West Virginia; early July to mid-July in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Jersey; mid-July in New York, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont and Maine.
2. Place traps on the generally upwind side of vegetable gardens, flower gardens, ornamental shrub plantings and other outside landscape plantings attacked by the beetles. Apply traps at the rate of one trap per 50 linear feet along two sides of plant perimeters. For example, if the site is 1 - 50 linear feet, place only one trap on each side of the two sides; if the site is 51 - 100 linear feet, place two traps on each of the two sides, etc. DO NOT enclose the treated sites with traps.
3. Hang traps from any suitable post or stand in sunny areas 3 to 5 feet above the ground. This trap has been designed for this purpose.
4. Place traps at least 10 feet away from the plantings as they may attract beetles to the foliage if placed closer.
5. Replace bags when full. If trap catches decline and beetles are still present replace pheromone/floral dispensers. Remove traps from site when beetles are no longer present.
Storage and Disposal
Do no contaminate water, food, or feed by storage and disposal.
Pesticide Storage: Store unopened pheromone/floral dispensers in a cool dry place or refrigerate until ready to use.
Pesticide Disposal: Securely wrap used dispenser in several layers of newspaper and discard in trash.
Container Disposal: Crush cardboard box and offer for recycling or discard in trash.
FAQs about Battling Japanese Beetles and Other Insects in Your Garden
Q: My plant leaves look chewed! Do you know what type of insect might do that?
A: Insects that have the ability to chew plants must have special cutters in their mouths for this purpose. Such insects
may include caterpillars, beetles, and grasshoppers, for example.
Q: Can insect pests survive the winter and affect my garden next year?
A: Yes, many insect pests can survive cold winters by “overwintering” under plant debris and leaves on the ground.
This is why it is very important to remove plant debris after harvesting this year’s crops and then till the soil. 
By tilling, you are removing places these insects can “overwinter,” destroying larvae or pupae
in the dirt, and burying the eggs so far down in the soil they won’t hatch in the spring.
Very cold winters of the far north may kill the adult insects or larvae, but the eggs may remain
unscathed and ready to hatch as the weather warms.
Q: How do I know if my plant is being attacked by an insect or a disease?
A: If it’s an insect, the plant may have holes in its leaves. Turn the leaves over and you may see the insects
themselves clustered on the underside of the leaves. You may also see and feel a sticky substance if it’s
an insect because the insect will leave a secretion on the plant.
More FAQs»
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