We have already trapped at least two gallons of the things this year!! I tried hand picking two years ago when they first showed up here. Last year bought the traps and caught over three gallons within the first two weeks. They're not quite as bad this year but there are still thousands. And they love my Kentucky Wonder Pole beans. At least this year there are no peaches for them to eat. Some people say the traps don't work, but they do for us.

soonergrandmom...
My vine had a little leaf damage too. I thought it was leaf miners but never could find the offending bug. You can't let bugs defoliate grape vine leaves, especially in this hot weather. If mine get any worse I'll have to fight back too. Never thought to look for beetles tho.

Barbara

We have the Japanese Beetles in SW Missouri too; the worst ever. They have been on the roses, plum and apple tree, other flowers, my pole beans; I abandoned the black berry crop to them so I could spray and , hopefully, kill them before they lay eggs. Most were in mating mode this morning!

I need to check out the traps....my homemade solution with sugar, vinegar and banana peel didn't do it!

Do I dare say they aren't here yet, without having y'all start throwing large objects at me? LOL

Carol, Any time I say I haven't seen a certain pest at all "yet", it promptly shows up a day or two later. I think it is some sort of gardening curse.

Dorothy, They sure do like ya'll! I am glad the traps continue to be effective.

When we have beetles here in large numbers, which is not very often and perhaps that's because we're so much farther west and a lot drier, I make homemade alfalfa tea by soaking alfalfa rabbit feed in 5-gallon buckets of water. I leave the buckets of alfalfa tea under the outside security lights at night and they are full of floating, dead beetles by morning. I scoop the dead beetles out of the buckets, and have oodles more the next morning.

I don't know if alfalfa tea would work in areas with more moisture/humidity, but it works great here. They seem very attracted to it...much more attracted to alfalfa tea than to full buckets of plain water.

Barbara, To quote Roseann Roseannadanna, 'It's always something....' LOL. It is bad enough to see plant damage from 'the usual suspects' but so much worse to have it from unexpected sources.

Glenda, It sounds like they are all over the place there. Between the late spring and all the rains and now the beetles, I don't know how you're managing to harvest anything at all. Some years "Mother Nature" is such a ferocious opponent.

Dawn

Thankfully I didn't have "gallons" of them, but there were plenty. Most of them were easy to flick off because they were busy making more beetles. At least I could get two at a time that way. LOL A few single ones got away so I am sure they will crawl right back up there. These vines have never made usable grapes, but this year they have a few nice looking bunches on them. Wouldn't you know the beetles would hit it this year.