The Japanese beetle is a very destructive plant pest that can prove really difficult and expensive to eliminate. The grubs feed on grass roots, and when they reach maturity, Japanese beetle adults attack the foliage, fruits and flowers of over 300 agricultural and ornamental plants. These insects were first spotted in the United States back in the 1900s, in the New Jersey area. They have further spread throughout the majority of states east of the Mississippi River. Infestations also occur west of the river in Iowa, Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas or Minnesota. The authorities have created the Japanese Beetle Quarantine in order to prevent the artificial spread of the insects to other parts of the United States.
The contamination with the Japanese beetle is prevented by a careful inspection of every aircraft that leaves an airport to the seven protected States that have not been affected by the infestation with the Japanese beetle pest. An airport is designated as regulated if it satisfies one of the three mandatory conditions: it follows treatment according to the PPQ manual, it has an inspector to evaluate the situation, the aircraft has arrived and left the regulated airport during the same non-daylight period when beetles are inactive.
Even more severe measures are being taken to prevent the spread of the Japanese beetle by artificial means. Unless these measures are implemented without delay, it is possible for the quarantine to stop being effective, and contamination with the pest would then become general. For lots of gardeners, hand picking remains the most widely used form of Japanese beetle pest control. You have to spot the first adults when they arrive on your property and take action against them right away. Adults are less active in the morning and late evening, when they can be more easily destroyed.
Another means to keep Japanese beetle population at bay is to plant some non-attractive plants for the species. You can check a complete list of these plants on the Internet or with your gardening association: boxwood, carnations, Chinese lantern plant, dusty-miller, kale, lilacs, lilies, snowberry, sweet pea, mulberry etc. Use floral lures as traps, but they are effective only if the same pest control measure is taken everywhere in your neighborhood. Unfortunately, in urban areas traps tend to attract more beetles into the area than they would be present normally.
The ultimate resource against Japanese beetle pest lies with insecticides, but only after weighing the pros and cons really well.
The contamination with the Japanese beetle is prevented by a careful inspection of every aircraft that leaves an airport to the seven protected States that have not been affected by the infestation with the Japanese beetle pest. An airport is designated as regulated if it satisfies one of the three mandatory conditions: it follows treatment according to the PPQ manual, it has an inspector to evaluate the situation, the aircraft has arrived and left the regulated airport during the same non-daylight period when beetles are inactive.
Even more severe measures are being taken to prevent the spread of the Japanese beetle by artificial means. Unless these measures are implemented without delay, it is possible for the quarantine to stop being effective, and contamination with the pest would then become general. For lots of gardeners, hand picking remains the most widely used form of Japanese beetle pest control. You have to spot the first adults when they arrive on your property and take action against them right away. Adults are less active in the morning and late evening, when they can be more easily destroyed.
Another means to keep Japanese beetle population at bay is to plant some non-attractive plants for the species. You can check a complete list of these plants on the Internet or with your gardening association: boxwood, carnations, Chinese lantern plant, dusty-miller, kale, lilacs, lilies, snowberry, sweet pea, mulberry etc. Use floral lures as traps, but they are effective only if the same pest control measure is taken everywhere in your neighborhood. Unfortunately, in urban areas traps tend to attract more beetles into the area than they would be present normally.
The ultimate resource against Japanese beetle pest lies with insecticides, but only after weighing the pros and cons really well.
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