Adult Japanese Beetles start to emerge in early summer. They feed very heavily on many plants in the garden and landscape.

They feed on the foliage, fruit and flowers of over 300 plants. On foliage they eat the tissue between the veins,  this is called skeletonizing. On fruits and flowers they eat everything.

JB’s are day beetles, which means they emerge from the soil everyday, they feed, then return to the soil for the night. In order to attract a mate they emit a pheromone, this attracts more adults, these in turn emit a pheromone, increasing the population.

The female will drop from a plant and deposit up to 5 eggs, she will do this every day for up to 2 weeks, depositing 40 to 60 eggs in her 6 week life. Eggs hatch in as little as 10 days.

Once the eggs hatch the larvae “white grub” begin feeding on the roots of plants and turf. They feed until cold weather drives them deeper into the soil where they will “hibernate”, after winter they move up to shallow soil, feed and
palpate.

When trying to control Japanese beetle outbreak, a multi-step control may be needed.
Apply a spray or liquid to the leaves where they are feeding, apply a granule or dust to the ground beneath plants they are feeding on. Finally, treat adjacent turf areas for the future grubs.

Ferti-lome Tree & Shrub Drench

When the adults are feeding on non-edible plants, systemics are your best bet. FL Tree & Shrub Drench and HY Systemic Granules can both can be applied at the base of the plant and watered in, itwill do all the work, moving up and into the leaves for long term protection. (Drench, one year. Granules, six to eight weeks.)

The HY Systemic Insect Spray is intended to be sprayed on the leaves for an almost immediate effect (48 to 72 hrs), but will only last six weeks.

In and around edibles, HY Lawn, Garden & Pet Spray and Dust are very good options, you may need to re-apply every rain or watering, see the label for the number of applications allowed.
For an application that will last up to 4 weeks, HY Multi-Use Dust is a great product.