Is the damage really that super bad? There are a lot of bites out of the plant but it doesn't look that bad. Some of these beetles will probably be gone in a few weeks and you can just wait them out.

In the meantime, playing with beetles like these is a great activity for kids--and their beetleophobic parent! They're durable and harmless (to people) and a good introduction to critter appreciation!

It's not that bad yet but they've only just arrived! And it is that bad on my coleus, the newest one I planted has half the leaves either gone or very holey.

And I appreciate your general idea but we have plenty of critter appreciation around here... We've saved countless snakes and frogs, raised tadpoles (which included drives to far away pet stores that sold the rare and elusive "flightless fruitfly"), had birthday parties for earthworms, rescued and released mice in fields beyond the neighborhood, and even let snails crawl across our hands before finding them better homes than my hosta. I'm not interested in appreciating this amount of beetle. Not interested in the least.

Those traps were originally meant to monitor the presence of various insects and they do a good job of calling any in the area to the trap location, and then your garden.

The best time to apply controls for the larva of many of the beetles is mid August to mid September, just as they hatch and begin feeding. By spring these larva are too big for most of the poisons to work well and they are getting ready to pupate and become the adults you see.

Keep in mind that these beetles can fly long distances and the presence of them in your garden may not reflect a large number of larva in your soil.

For advice on what to do do not rely on sites that are selling products to control what ever since they will be trying to sell you what they have to sell.

Perhaps this article might be of some help.

http://www.extension.umn.edu/garden/insects/find/japanese-beetles/

kimmq is kimmsr

Thanks for the advice on timing for control, and the link. I will get rid of my traps and look into what to use as grub control for August... If anyone has insight on what product has worked best for them or greatly appreciate hearing it.

One confusion for me is that while I'm seeing a decent amount of both japanese and oriental beetles, it seems that *most* of what I have out there is a brown, similarly-sized beetle that looks like a chafer, from the pics I see online. That's what's mostly on my daisies and coleus. And yet according to the above link, "Adults do not feed so not found at lights or plants." Hmmm...

Seems also that chafers respond differently to controls, which would obviously present a problem with treating.

Last thought is that if these adult beetles travel like I'm reading they do, I wonder how much difference even the best grub control will make. I'm only able to treat my little yard after all.

Sounds like maybe there IS no great answer...

One place to start with bad insect cont4rol is the soil plants grow in. Plants growing in a good healthy soil will have fewer problems with insect pests and that means the soil pH is close to what those plants need and that the nutrients in that soil are in balance. A very popular "fertilizer" has a lot of Nitrogen which helps plants grow lush and green and that is very attractive to many insect pests, so to counteract that problem the same company will sell you poisons to control those insect pests that the "plant food" they sell is attracting.

Some people will come here and counter the above and tell you that a good healthy soil will not stop insect pests from the plants, because they don't understand the concept, and no that will not stop all of them. A good healthy soil will, however, help just as you being good and healthy will aid you in repulsing diseases.

kimmq is kimmsr