Between going out twice a day and tapping them into just a plain bucket of water and the diathomous earth I am winning,
NOTICEABLE difference with 3 days of dousing the grape plant with the dia. earth! On the grape plant I found 4, I even shook it, and nothing! Before I was getting 50-60 a day, today the total was 15. It is promising! I also noted they had only favored my yellow roses but none of the others and they are all planted in the same area. I never did treat the roses with the d. earth because it is visited by bees.

Do you dust the DE on your plants or make up a solution with water? Very interested in the DE angle as that would mean I wouldn't have to patrol for the JBs as often (although the frequent rains we've been getting would mean more application of the DE). DD's raspberries get covered in the pests. I tap mine into a bucket of water with a little dish soap (otherwise they'll swim for 24 hours or more) so I'm always out patrolling for the JBs. I've noticed that they arrived late this year and that there aren't as many of them. Most of mine fly in from other yards right into my sunny garden.

I HATE those JB's. We have them on our raspberries too. The water/dish soap works well for them. I spray them with the solution which seems to make them hang onto the leaf. Otherwise they often drop off as soon as they see (or feel) you coming. Then I push them into the bowl of soap water. I envy the people who can just squash them. I can't stand to do that Just the thought of that "crunch" gives me the willies. Thank goodness I have my husband to help. Many of the raspberries are way taller than I am at 5' 4". He gets the ones that are out of my reach.
Is there anything that I could put into the soil this fall or next spring that will help reduce the problem next year. Because I know some of them are dropping down and most likely laying more eggs in the soil.

Can't do the "crunch" either - not even with gloves. Not familiar with systemic pesticides as I grow everything organically. I've heard that they will go for bare soil to lay eggs in the ground. All of my beds are mulched with leaves and the grass is thick enough that they'd have to search pretty hard for a bare spot. I wonder if the spray-able kaolin clay would deter them.

Shadegardener said: I've heard that they will go for bare soil to lay eggs in the ground..

They prefer to lay their eggs on grasses, which makes sense since the larvae are turf pests (white grubs). There are all kinds of studies on the egg-laying preferences of Japanese beetles! They even prefer certain grass species over others. One study that seems relevant: "In choice experiments with natural and artificial plant cues, females preferred to lay eggs in ryegrass rather than in artificial resources. Artificial grass stems received more eggs on average than bare ground, indicating the role of vertical objects on the soil surface as oviposition cues."

From: Do plant cues influence the oviposition behavior of Japanese beetles?
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com...

What some people do is shake the beetles out of the plants early in the morning when they're dopey (the beetles, not the people) and drop them into a bucket of soapy water or whatever else is the preferred method of execution.

I read that D. Earth should be applied to the lawn in spring. Anyway in answer to a ? here I just do a dry dusting, but DO NOT breath it in!

Wow - very interesting. So many studies of JBs that I wasn't aware of. Thanks for posting that! My goal has always been to catch them before they pair up (if you know what I mean). My sunniest bed doesn't get sun until afternoon - that's when they start coming in. If it gets too hot for them, they hide underneath leaves or even flowers to do their feasting. So far, no luck with using 4 o'clocks or zonal geraniums as bait. Seems like the pots are too low to the ground.

YUK! Last week I went to collect JBs in a bucket of water, I could barely reach and put the bucket up and did a tap, and they fell
inside my shirt, in my hair as well! Anyway, again today he numbers are down, and I read that they like to go where there is a good
population. Also just think how many eggs are not going to be laid.....unless they already did?

Thanks, Linda, for that info. Although you mentioned that you don't dust certain flowers in favor of the bees - various bees and hummers are all over my sunny bed. Will have to contemplate...

I've had the JBs fly smack into my head. Shivers.

http://www.bayeradvanced.com/a...

More reading...now I know how they got their name and how they got here in 1916.