They seemed to pop-up over night...went up to my weeping cherry tree and gave it a shake...darn if it was not holding tons of JB's.

I got out the Sevin and sprayed everything...don't like using chemicals...but lost lots of plants one year to these devils when I was away for a couple of days.

One of my sisters called me last night to say that much to her horror, they had suddenly appeared within the past week and were munching on her new peach tree. She said that they were well on the way to making lace out of all the leaves before she hand-picked them off. She had been spraying her roses so she said they were clear so far.

Had a few on Tuesday and this morning,Hubby said there were a few.But,as of 11:30am,they are swarming everywhere!Climatis,Butterfly bushes,Weeping Cherry Tree,Crepe Myrtle,Honeysuckle,Clumping Birch Tres are all getting hit with them.Its really bad this year for some reason.Hubby sprayed Weeping Cherry and Crepe Myrtle before leaving for work but he didn't see all of the other things infested with them.I have a bird feeder and would love all of the birds to eat them but they won't.Too darn nasty looking for one thing and I heard they are bitter tasting.....I didn't try that last thing.lolI hope they are not here too long....does anyone know how long they last?........Koke

I'm getting more now too. I have removed most rose blooms to keep them somewhere else. However, I have seen then on a variety of different plants.

I take them off and put them in a brown plastic garbage bag. Then I twist the top of the bag shut, fold it under the other part of the bag, and place the bag in the sun.

I call it "bakin' beetles." I just hope it is painful.

They're all over my Corylus avellana 'Contorta'(Harry Lauder's Walking Stick) as usual :-(. After learning that the JB's eat in the sunshine, but not shade, I'm seriously considering moving the shrub to p.m. shade, or put it in a pot...

Oh DRAT!!! All your above posts means that they will be in my yard in droves soon. This morning I saw just a half dozen or so. I am afraid to go out now and look. I hate 'em hate 'em!! I have been anticipating that they will be especially bad this year. When I dug up two new 30' x 8' plots for shrubs in May, every shovel full of earth yielded handfulls of grubs. I gleefully squished each and everyone of those *&%@$# buggers!

I noticed way more than I have in previous years...and more plant damage. ITs not bad yet but prompted me to go out and buy a chemical pesticide for the first time in 10 years.

I saw two so far. Maybe the milky spore is working. I also avoid plants that JB's love, like hollyhocks. I do have roses, but they're in between blooming now.

FYI, here's a column from Mike McGrath, former editor of Organic Gardening magazine, about JB's:

"Come fall, beetle battlers should plant some (or more) forsythia, peonies, firethorn and tulip poplars to attract the spring tiphia wasp (tiphia vernalis). Deliberately released in the U.S. a few years after the dreaded beetle was accidently introduced (in 1916), the wasp was recently rediscovered alive and well here on the East Coast (from New York down to North Carolina). It's a great beetle enemy - the female wasp goes down into the soil and lays her eggs right on the grubs, so more beetle-battling wasps emerge instead of those armored rose-eating pests! The wasps can kill 85% of the grubs in a lawn. That's better than nasty chemical insecticides achieve!"

Important info: These wasps closely resemble another feared pest - winged black carpenter ants! Luckily, the wasps' attraction to the above-named plants (and not to the wood of your house) should help you ID the good from the bad, so the good can survive to go after the ugly."

Well, I've got tons of Forsythia...and guess what?
The JB's LOVE it! LOL

I talked with my nurseryman yesterday. He said they are bad this year everywhere for some reason...AND .........................
....they'll be around until mid to late August!!! UGH!!!

I tell ya! I've become obsessed with killin'm! LOLAM
I've got better things to do!...but I can't stop myself...hehehe!

koke:

Thanks for mentioning Crape Myrtle. I just planted a Pink Velour this week.
----------------

This morning I cleaned my roses of devil beetles and placed them in my black, plastic, devil beetle bag. I twisted the end and placed it under the bag. Then I put it out for the sun. If the sun is out today, I will be bakin' beetles. Feels so good.

Then I went over to my new Crape Myrtle 'Pink Velour'. ###%%%$^$%#@#$% &&^%$#$$%%^^-&&%$^^%$!!!!!!!

They were climbing all over it and trying to swallow it. That was it. I went after the Sevin. I didn't want to use the heavy stuff but they were asking for it. I mixed my Sevin and primed the sprayer. (I even dumped the Orthenex in the sprayer to make room for it.) I was going for maximum pain.

I sprayed my beautiful Pink Velour all over its new purple-red shoots. It took a few moments but the devil beetles began to tremble. Then they shook. Then the ran around the foliage. They were writhing in pain. It was glorious. I continued to watch the carnage. It was so joyful. Then the devil beetles started dropping. What a wonderful feeling.

Now if the sun comes out, I'll be bakin' beetles too. Death, many times over, to all devil beetles. And a painful death at that.

OK, now I can go back to my Clark Kent persona.

Those bast**&^s are everywhere! They MATE ON MY WASH I HAVE HANGING OUT!!Well, that is their last fling because I pick em off my wash and squash em. I'm investing in milky spore and hope it works.They are just destroying my blueberry bushes.

I DON'T BELIEVE IT!! I removed a Tila Cordata Littleleaf Linden last year because it was a MAJOR attractrant to the JB's. Nearby, I put in a Stewartia Koreana. Yesterday, what do I find? They're all over it. I can't win. I never saw anything saying JB's liked to eat them :-(

The devil beetles were eating and mating on my Dragon Lady hollies yesterday. These gluttons will go after anything.

I was by my sister's yesterday and they were all over the tomatoes I have there as well as the rest of her veggies, her peach tree, her beautyberry (!!!), her daylilies... ARRRRGGGG!!!!! The numbers this year may make the Brood X carnage look like a walk in the park.

Well,today is Saturday and the devils are still at it! ------------------------Hannah.....Mid to late August? I will be so upset if they are around here that long.I was just starting to enjoy my garden and then those JB's arrived!-------------We will have nothing in the garden to enjoy so it might as well be Winter! Picking them off does no good because there are just too many around here,out of sheer panic yesterday...I saw them flying around my Mountain Ash so I got the hose and tried to wash them down,as I turned on the hose and aimed it at the tree,2 zillion JB's started to fly like crazy.Guess they don't like water but it didn't take too long before they were back.In fact,in a matter of min.they were all over it so I did the same thing again. We put milky spore down and this is the 2nd year for it and I don't know if it takes a long time to do any good.Last year.we hardly had any but this year is just awful...and I was worried about the Chicada's?? Silly me!........Trying to keep my Crape Myrtle JB free!............Koke

I actually saw them defoliating weeds yesterday.

Was by my sister's again yesterday and she told me she saw them swarming earlier. I did a quick run through the yard and they were even lounging in the middle of her ornamental grass! :-\

Good Grief! They are everywhere!!! OK.let's ask......name a place they are not destroying everything in the garden..... Koke

Haven't had any yet. I'm in Exton Chester county. 30 miles west of Philly.

Hey garden grammie, bad news. I'm in Uwchlan just slightly north of you and I've started to notice them in the past several days.

They started slow here in SW Chesco but are out in force now and are not swallowing everything.

Can you spray for them now or is the insecticide only effective if you spray the darn bugs?

"and are not swallowing everything."

In my latest note I wrote the above. I meant to write and are now swallowing everything."

I sprayed my Crape Myrtle with Sevin on Friday. They were eating it today and I had to hand pick them off the Crape.

They should be gone, for the most part, by the end of this month. Maybe they will leave something for next year.

Oops! I didn't see this thread and just posted a new one on the same subject. We are under full attack just south of Coatesville, in East Fallowfield. They are evil beetles!

Surprisingly, I have seen very few this year. By actual count, 3 on the cannas and 1 on the 4-o'clocks. I was pleasantly surprised by the lack of them. Maybe it's just early and they'll come later, but I hope not.

George

I'm outside of West Chester...they're STILL EVERYWHERE!
ACK!!!

I had a bad infestation last year and they have started again this year. They are attracted to several of the plants I grow. Roses, Hibiscus, crepe myrtle and Harry Lauders Walking stick, (which is a Hazlenut)

The thing about rnvironmental control is that it has to stay in balance. I have had a problem with moles here for many years. They feed on the beetle grubs so I never had a serious problem with them until last year.last year I noticed a decline in the mole population (maybe they DROWNED).

Female JB' release a large amount of pheramones, especially after mating. That's why you get so many on one plant. You can collect and drown lots of them, but the pheramones will still be on the plant and they will still be attracted to the spot where there has already been lots of "action"

Also, you might notice that when disturbed, some fly away and some drop to the ground. The ones dropping to the ground are females ...and they will lay their eggs under that rosebush....guaranteeing a new infestation next year.

Anyone who has Harry Lauder keep an eye out for filbert blight. My "Harry" was over 15 years old and I thought the die-off was from the JBs feeding, but it was from fungus disease.

Since I also had a lot of problems with disease on my roses last year , AND sawfly larvae...I decided to do the drastic. Orthonex , with is a systemic insecticide and fungicide is expensive as hell, but it takes care of beetles, sawfly larvae, and both diseases. I spray every two weeks now. Just the susecptable plants. It appears to be working.

Just don't get it on anything YOU intend to EAT!.
**Macca**

I found this item about the devil beetles.

Here is a link that might be useful: University of Arkansas

As of today with the lovely rain(finally!),there has not been any JB's for the past 3 days or so but now I have June Bugs emerging from the lawn.Which ,I imagine is better than having the JB's.!.............Koke

You people are mad -- MAD I tell you! Bakin' beetles and enjoying the carnage. A friend of mine mentioned that she'd seen some JBs in her garden the other day, so I decided to check around my plants. They were swarming all over my butterfly bush -- I have never seen so many bugs on one plant! I wasted no time getting the Sevin spray. What I'm wondering is -- how long do you need to wait between sprayings? Or do you need to spray again after a heavy rain (like we had today)? I've never had to resort to Sevin spray before... sigh. The JBs are all over my purple leaf plum, too. Oy!

Ann

I sprayed my new Pink Velour Crape Myrtle once with Sevin. The devil beetles (death to all devil beetles) have not gone back. However, I did see some lifeless little devil beetle bodies on the mulch beneath the Crape. Maybe they gave it a try and could not handle the Sevin days after I sprayed.

Sevin is deadly to earthworms. I'm planning to use it only when I am driven crazy by any type of devil bug.

I just cleaned my balcony of spent blooms on my geraniums, and looked out to see my rose climber all covered with beetles! So here I searched for who these critters are. I'll be going for the Safer soap. I hope it works. These beetles are smaller than the JB's that I'm familiar with West of the Mississippi. Are they the same?

Sharon

Milky spore is the best solution I know. It kept our property JB-free for more than 15 years.

Susan

I'm in West Chester, not exactly inundated but I am picking and squashing diligently. These buggers make lace out of my Kopper King annually. They also like my kniphofia. Last year I sprayed it and then realized to my horror that the hummingbirds liked it too, so no more of that. I tried Safers on the hibiscus, but it didnt work.
Turns out that the jps secrete more than just a sex pheromone - they also leave one on the plants they like, so their pals will know where theres good eatin. if you can get them at the beginning of the swarm you stand a better chance of reducing the infestation.
This year I looked out for them and at 1st siting start to pick em. I got a nearly empty bottle of dishwasher detergent, put some hot water in and went to town. (I like to leave a few squashed ones around so they get the hint ;-)
If anyone cares at this point, the reason we have so many is that we had so much rain this year, which is favorable for the grubs. This article was in the Inquirer last week -

Here is a link that might be useful: Philadelphia Inquirer article

I never realized that I was sadistic before I found my poor HL Walking stick.....right beside my now lace leafed Wyoming cana. . . but I am getting a lot of joy out of feeding the JBs to the bullfrogs and the koi.

Icdesign, that's correct, only it's due to last summer's rains, not this summer's, according to the article. Now I find out I probably should have not treated, and eliminated voles we had, they were helping to eat them!

mymacca, is your Walking Stick in full sun or am-sun/pm shade?