eats Japanese beetles

Although Japanese beetles are harmless to human beings, that doesn’t really mean that you will want them around you. You will be rather surprised to know that these invasive insects can feed on more than 300 sorts of plants and cost the country more than  $470 million to handle,  as per reports from Penn State Extension. 

Japanese beetles originated in Japan but now they are found all over the United States of America.  The adult insects have a metallic green color on their backside and they are around 12 mm long with front wings that are copper in color. If your backyard garden has been infested with Japanese beetles and you are wondering what eats Japanese beetles, we will provide you with some details.

Most common ways of getting rid of Japanese beetles

  • Hand-pick them and put them inside the water

You can hand-pick beetles and put them inside water along with adding a few drops of detergent powder. Make sure you wear gloves so that you don’t get the creepy feeling of touching the insects. According to entomologists,  the best time to gather Japanese beetles is around 7:00 p.m. in the evening. You may catch them during the daytime as this will reduce the feeding damage but it is best to catch them in the evening.

  • Spray a soap and water solution

If you can make a simple solution of dish soap and water and spray it on the leaves that are invested by Japanese beetles,  you will soon find the insects suffocating themselves to death.  After you make the water with soap,  you can try out the least touchy solution where you pour the soap water into the spray bottle and spray the affected plants. Even if the beetles don’t die,  they will definitely drop from the plant and become food for other predatory birds.

  • Set beetle traps away from affected plants

Japanese beetle traps are one of the best ways of stopping pest infestation from getting worse. These beetle traps work by attracting male beetles away from the targeted areas before they mate. The trap should contain a type of attractant like a pheromone to attract insects to the trap. The insects are exterminated by a toxicant or they simply die due to the trap.

Therefore, now that you’re aware of the ways in which you can get rid of Japanese beetles, try implementing them in order to stay away from pest infestation in your garden.