They'd be a great addition to the compost pile.

Brilliant Don! May as well make good use of them. Keep us updated on the smell as the summer goes along, and let us know if you notice that the dead beetles are keeping the beetles away. Makes perfect sense though.

Do you think this might also have the same effect as "bug juice," allowing pathogens that are harmful to beetles to proliferate, and so extend its value beyond the immediate area and place?

So far, no Japanese beetles on any garden plants, but they must be abundant in the area. A couple of weeks ago the trap filled a bag in one day. The discarded bugs smell about like a dead rabbit or other small mammal, but so far it is not intolerable when working in the garden. I notice the grass and weeds in the area where the bugs are discarded (I haven't tried mulching any garden plants with them) is darker green than in the surrounding areas, so they must be supplying nitrogen and other nutrients to the soil.

The most unpleasant task is handling the bag when it is removed from the trap. Since there are still live bugs inside, I let it lie in the sun for a couple of hours, which seems to kill them all. I use a knife to open the bag and dump the contents, but there is always some fluid that drips out along with the rest of the contents that is neither pleasant to look at nor to smell. I just wear gloves and complete the task as rapidly as possible. I think the benefits will outweigh this minor inconvenience.

In mid August I plan to till the area where the bugs are discarded and plant some swiss chard, turnip greens and collards. We'll see how they do.

Don

I've read about using dead bugs to make an anti bug spray for your plants. It seems that you need to collect at least 1/4 cup of whatever bug pest is giving you trouble (this of course only works for bugs large enough to collect.) I think the instructions were for hand picking the bugs off your plants but this trap sounds like a convenient way.

Anyway, the method was something like mix bugs, oil, water, and dish soap in blender and liquify. I don't remember the exact ratios of the different ingredients. Then strain and put in spray bottle to apply to troubled plants. I think the premise being that the essence of dead bug should either repel the bugs or pass bug pathogens to the offending bugs.

Drawback, having to contaminate your blender with ucky bug juice.

Keep us posted on how the dead bug mulch works out.

It would be interesting to see if you could scatter the beetles at a lower "rate" (rather than dumping most of them in one area) and get the same efficacy. It might also solve the odor problem.

My 12 yr. old son does a huge business catching Japanese Beetles - 50 cents/trap/day. We have 20 traps. We tried the bag trap but the adolescent beetles were able to crawl out of the weep holes and I am sorry, I want them all to die so we went to the hard plastic traps and are extremely pleased with them. I am so excited about using the dead beetles as a mulch! My peach, plum, cherry, and apple trees are just covered with them! I used a summer shield fabric over my grapes, blueberries, raspberries and kiwi and I swear w/o those to munch on, my trees are taking a bigger hit then in past years! Will let you know if the stink is an effective deterrent - couldn't be any worse!

Any other successes, please share!
- Jodi

These traps are a great idea. I know they say that they bring more to your property, but they are coming to the traps. I used to capture bugs and after they died I would put them in my veggie garden to keep others away. great idea with dumping the beetles. i will go out and get traps today.

What many people do not understand is how the traps work. These traps have, as an attractant, the female mating pheromone (odor) and that attracts the male beetles to the trap. These males also give off a pheromone that attracts the female beetles to the general area the males are and these females give of a pheromone that attrracts more males. In the traps you will find only the male Japanese Beetles because the famales would not be attracted to the trap that is giving off a female mating pheromone.

http://www.ca.uky.edu/entomology/entfacts/ef409.asp

These traps lure both male and female with two different types of bait.

Yes Don! My trap was in a big jar like form. It filled up full everyday. I dumped it in a pile every night. I discovered their dead bodies made the blackest dirt ever. It did smell like a rotting corpse but I started putting them in my compost. I like the idea of putting around plants . I do have trouble with deer.

One caution with emptying the bags: Inside the female are eggs and larva that can hatch out even when the beetles are dead. So burying them is out. Composting them is iffy. I used to have the JBs, but have only a handful anymore. I trapped an estimated 270,000 in '03...emptying the bags and washing them out and reusing the. I killed a lot of other beetles on the wild grape vines and plum tree. I also used a bit of Milky Spore.