none that I know of! Wow that's kind of early I don't usually see them untill July. Sarah

no don't say that. I hate these things with a passion. Every year they eat everthing and are always commiting suicide in our pool. Oddly, the Norway Maple is on the list of most favored but I have never had a problem with them on it. To bad because I hate that tree. Well the only good thing about the beetles are that my gold finches love the things.

I wish more birds liked them! I think that's part of the beetles defense system.......they must taste awful!
They do spend some time on my Norway Maple, but not nearly as much as they like my Linden. They completely skeletonize my Linden, by August. They also love the old brocolli plants in the garden. I hate how they get in my hair and down my blouse! YUK! I wish we could find some good use for them................

Catherine, those pheromone traps work pretty well, or you can spray nematodes on your lawn to kill the beetle grubs (the nematodes are tiny worms that kill the larvae). I used to pick them off the plants for a bounty from my Mom when I was a kid - I think it was a penny a beetle...

Milky Spore is supposed to work without harming birds or wildlife. Here is a link.

http://www.milkyspore.com/milkyspore.htm

The traps aren't all that great, they attract more of them than they trap.

I'm so proud and happy. The robins (and sparrows, I think) in my yard have done a great job controlling the beetles. I saw a lot of beetles a few weeks ago, but they have now all but disappeared from my yard. Nothing gives me more pleasure than watching the birds jump up to snatch them out of the bushes.

Starlings come to my yard to eat them but I usually don't see them untill july Sarah

Same here Sarah, but for some reason they came out early this year. Their already swimming in the pool. :(

They stain your fingers brown when you squarsh 'em. But it washes off.

Are you guys sure you're seeing birds eat JB's? I have them all over my raspberries (among other things), and I've never once seen any bird go after the beetles or eat them. From what I thought, it seems rare to never that a bird bothered with JB's....which made those buggers even more annoying -- that they seemed to have no predators even.

Dave

I had a robin in the garden yesterday jumping up to get the beetles off my flowers. The robins are the only bird that I have seen eat the dang beetles. I go out everyday and "flick" beetles into a bowl of soapy water. I won't spray because of the butterflies and hummingbirds that visit the flowers.