Knowledgebase
Japanese beetles eating away my tree #581552
Asked July 19, 2019, 9:39 AM EDT
Hennepin County Minnesota
Expert Response
Thank you for your question.
Yes, indeed, Japanese Beetles are an invasive species. They first appeared on the East Coast some years back and have relentlessly made their way westward. The beetles you are now seeing came from eggs laid in 2018 from which grubs emerged that then spent the 2018-2019 winter in the soil. These grubs emerged as adult beetles a few weeks ago. Hand removal of adult beetles and placing them in a pail of soapy water is considered to be the most effective means of dealing with them. However as you remove the beetles from your gardens, more beetles will fly in. This means that this will be an ongoing, daily battle for you. A one-time treatment by someone visiting your property will only be a temporary solution. As far as we know there is no spray that will repel Japanese Beetles. You may want to consider trying to destroy grubs in your soil sometime towards August. These are grubs that will produce adults that will visit you in 2020. Many of these points are covered in the following two articles:
https://extension.umn.edu/yard-and-garden-insects/japanese-beetles
https://blog-yard-garden-news.extension.umn.edu/2017/07/dealing-with-japanese-beetles.html
Good Luck!!