Hi Dave,

Have you or anyone here had any experience with the Ovavesicula popilliae infected JB's---can you share your results? Is there a source of this biological agent available?

Thanks' Larry

Here is a link that might be useful: link to greatlakesroses.com talk

This is very exciting news. Do you think they will expand outside of Michigan? Can they send me some?

Buford,
Follow protocols. Ask your county extension agent about the potential for tests in Georgia.
Don't ever send pests across state lines. Even pests that we hope are good pests.
Those fall Lady Bugs were brought in to control a pecan pest. They weren't expected to spread beyond the range of pecans. They weren't expected to become pests because they reproduced here so well and needed places to overwinter.

And lest we forget, Rose Rosette was supposed to be the cheap cure for the eradication of Rosa multiflora because RRD didn't spread to cultivated roses.

Thanks for that info. Many more questions, and it's going to take a long time to do much good for the ordinary gardener especially. May be bad for business at multiple levels, so there might be that to contend with. I'd like to stay updated with all the latest on this effort.

Still it's very positive they've gotten this far with something I was hoping would appear on the horizon. Kudos to those researchers.

According to the abstract linked below, the thing they are planning to distribute is already in some eastern states. It's just not in many Michigan locations sampled

Here is a link that might be useful: About JB killers: an abstract

This is totally awesome, am burned out on JB's but could not read the abstract in its entirety and didn't want to pay for it so googled hoping to find more about this research.

That led me to a What's That Bug website.

Now tonight my gdaughter is leaving, the porch light is on, and she about freaked out about this "bug". I go have a look, it was clinging to the screen with the porch light on, so go outside so I could have a better look. Grandma! I thought it was a staghorn beetle but from the link, now think it is a Grapevine beetle. I had to hold the door open and give her wide berth to get out, don't think I've ever seen one like this before and did a huge bug project in hs biology. So I grabbed my camera, cranked up the ISO and got this shot, hard to get close with that lens but too much rigamorole to set up for my macro lens tonight. The only grapes around here are down the alley, but I guess it eats grapevines, another nuisance beetle. But I tapped it on its back, didn't budge, hard as a rock.

{{gwi:303160}}

Something different besides JB's for a change. It rained last night, none in either trap tonight, and only picked off less than 10 today. Dare I hope? Maybe they'll be bad again tomorrow or maybe the worst is over, still a few beetles can do a lot of chewing before you find them, one was under a leaf but the damage made me look.

Here is a link that might be useful: Grapevine Beetle?

There has to be some purpose for Japanese Beetles. Anyone know what it is?

(Hey smart alecks--I mean a productive purpose! heh!)

Purpose? Excellent question. If so, I wish I knew what it was. If the photo offends anyone, I'll take it out, just the enthusiastic kid in me kind of took over, didn't know I still had some in me.

I was also concerned with birds eating dead beetles if I dispatch them by spot spraying or when people use Sevin, etc. I hope I never have to go to that extreme, but I see birch leaves fallen off with the distinctive nibbling pattern, and the clump is pretty old for birches and vulnerable now. The cherry leaves, they seem to go after the new, tender ones. The more mature ones are leathery and hardly any damage. At least if you put the dead ones out in the garden (which I won't) in the traps and soapy water, I doubt it can hurt anything. That was a concern about this innoculated disease vector. Is it specific to only these beetles and will it harm birds or beneficial scavengers or some other unforeseen consequence, hopeful as it sounds?

Now something of personal concern. I couldn't feel good about being away from home during the beetle period and what would I do if I had to be hospitalized? No one would want to fill in doing that anywhere close to what I tried to do even for pay, kids might pick but you know kids and do more damage to your garden than the beetles. Well there are worse things to befall people, so it's just another chance we all have to take. It's part of life. Many folks here are up in age like me, some a decade maybe more older, still gardening, I wonder if they have any contingency plans.

Can certain garden targets survive with medium and slightly over but not massive inundation of beetles? Massive, I shudder to think would happen doing nothing.