I'm not going to change much, maybe a bird bath and a feeder or two. They don't seem to bother anything but my elm trees and they've outgrown the damage so far. From what I've heard they will return to their favorite feeding ground every year due to genetic memory and if their favorite plants are gone they'll settle for others IMO so that would be an open invite to chow on my cannas, EEs, tomatoes, peppers and who knows what else. I've found the best way to keep them from other plants is to kill the first ones to land on them and be vigilant about it. If left alone more will come so I keep popping the ones on my favs. A handheld vacuum also works well.

I like the idea of insecticidal soap rather than Sevin. Really hated to use it last year, but it *was* very effective. Are you going to make your own soap or buy it? What brand do you suggest?
Thanks.
Sunny

OK,that means I will have to cut down all the blackberries, raspberries, plum trees, roses, rose of sharon shrubs, etc.
They seem to like almost everything I grow.

I can't use Sevin on the black berries and then eat them! I have lost two years now to the beetles.

The can have the Elm trees!

Sunny, I'll probably make my own. I just need to do a bit more research and find a recipe.

I've read you can mix up in a blender a dead beetle spray, but I think I'll use other methods. EW.

I spot sprayed with Sevin last year too. While I thoroughly enjoyed seeing them die instantly, I hate what it may do to other insects that show up like bees.

They love river birch trees too, by the way. If I'd known that I would have had a different tree installed (expensively, I might add) in the front yard.

Here's a link to a discussion on DIY insecticidal soap. I think I'll just buy the concentrated stuff since the beetles are the only reason I'm using it and they're only here for a few weeks.

Here is a link that might be useful: Insecticidal Soap

I would be surprised if insecticidal soap would work on J beetles. They have a tough shell. White flies and aphids would be much easier to kill. Not that I know anything about how to kill bugs. Stinkbugs are my worse enemy.

I've used a handheld vac on my raspberries. I don't know why they don't fly away at the sound of the vacuum but they don't. It worked really well. It might work on blackberries too but those are thornier so I'm not sure you can get to the beetles without the thorns grabbing you.

I'm going to put up bags again. I sent literally gallons of beetles to the landfill last summer. I was able to put the bags up a few hundred feet from the house to attract them away from the yard. I'm sure I must've cleared the whole neighborhood, there were soooo many. I'm hoping to get the bags up early enough before the beetles start laying eggs for next year, which is in the first week from the time they emerge from what I've read.
I'd like to figure out a way to funnel them into a five gallon bucket below the trap because the bags were too full and hard to unzip at the bottom - too gross to describe. I'll spare you. I tried funneling them into a trash bag but something tore into the bag since it was down on the ground, skunk or possum maybe. I hope whatever it was ate them all before they escaped.

I don't see how nematodes could possibly make a dent unless you did all your neighbors' yards too, so I think it's good that you're not spending a lot of money on that Teeandcee.

Ok - I shouldn't have said "cleared the whole neighborhood" because that's deceiving. There were still plenty on the plants in my yard and I'm sure my neighbors still had some as well. But I really did send gallons to the landfill so at least those weren't eating anything.

Helen, I'm wondering the same thing regarding insecticidal soap so instead of making some I just purchased a bottle for $5 at Lowes yesterday.

I'll be trying to vacuum method too.

Christie, I know exactly how you feel about emptying them. I'm not squeamish about stuff but JBs....gag. I once broke a full bag while trying to empty it. By the time I got back outside to try to bury the mess the dogs were gobbling up the beetles. AAAAA!!!

Anyway, below is a link to a thread in the Roses forum I started on this subject and someone there has a pic of a 5-gallon bucket with PVC funneling into it. I think it may be what you're talking about.

Here is a link that might be useful: JB funnel?

Last year at Nathanael Greene Park in Springfield I noticed that they completely defoliated the Linden trees. I think it might be good in a way to have something they flock to instead of your favorite rose, but that is what they say about the traps. Do they attract more or do they help?

Thanks for that link Teeandcee. I was thinking that it would have to be covered somehow, but it looks like they put water in the bucket so they drown. Sure looks like it's working doesn't it. The advantage of the water would be, if they're already dead, I could just dump them out in the field instead of bagging them up and putting them in the trash. I think I might try that.
Last year, I was triple bagging them, and the smell was still so strong, I thought my trash guy might call the police. lol

Helen - I have no doubt that the traps attract more. I think they must be drawing them in from a quarter mile away. That's why so many people say not to use them but nothing else works very well either and it's satisfying to kill a few million. I was just fed up. I'm hoping if I do it for a few years in a row, I'll see a difference over time.

I triple bagged mine too, buried them under other trash bags in the can, and they STILL stunk up the garage. I think I'm smelling them as I type.

I can't make up my mind on the traps. Despite having one in the front yard and one in the back they still defoliated the plum tree and would have my roses if I'd not beat them back on a daily basis (for two years now). However, I'm on a small lot so can't really set the traps far enough away...unless I sneak them into the neighbors' yards in the dead of night, hehe.

Anyway, they were even attacking my purple coneflowers last year.

This year I'm going to try my approach above without traps and see how that goes. If I don't see a difference I can at least give up the traps and not deal with the grossness.

If you buried them would they make good fertilizer? Dogs would probably dig them up if they stink that bad. If there was a use for the dead ones there would be more satisfaction in killing them.

I bet they would make good fertilizer. I think my wiener dog would dig them up. He's a beetle eater and a digger.

I had to bury some cherry tomatoes a couple of years ago due to him eating them. He dug them up then proceeded to produce stinky half-rotten cherry tomato gas in the house.

Beetle gas would probably kill us all.

Oh funny T&C!
Sunny