Japanese Beetles

scorpio

Arachnodemon
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I dont know much about these except they are predicted to kill approximately 10,000 trees in my city.

Ive been collecting them off plants and such so my plants dont get ravaged by them, because supposedly if there arent any beetles there, it discourages others from coming. However, they are very beautiful insects that Id love to keep as pets. Does anybody here know if its possible? The 100+ that I have collected are just dying. How can I keep them alive?

I doubt any of you have any input on this, but if you do, drop a post here.
 

Jesse607

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Grow some grass or other herbaceous plant, put the adult beetles in with the plants, they will burrow into the soil, lay their eggs, and a few weeks later the eggs will hatch. The larvae will feed on the plant roots. When october comes put the container with the plants and larvae(grubs) into a cool shed or garage. When spring comes, make sure the grass is still alive, bring back into a warm place, and the grubs should continue to grow, pupate and come out of the soil by july. When they begin emerging as adults KILL THEM ALL! DO NOT SET THEM FREE!

Does not sound very exciting or worth it, does it?
 

Jesse607

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KILL 10,000 trees or DEFOLIATE 10,000 trees. I have seen trees defoliated year after year, and still come back strong the following years.

If westernized humans were not so obsessed with having vast monocultures of trimmed grasses(aka "lawns"), Japanese beetles would not be a problem.

Just thought I would share that with you
 

Mendi

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@jezzy607 -- Try spraying your yard with a biopest control agent called milky spore. This does something to the pupea and they won't survive the transformation into adulthood. Though this really won't be noticed unless you get all your neighboors and theirs to use the spray too

@scorpio -- Have you been feeding and supply them with water? They do have a fairly short life cycle though after they emerge, so they may just be at the end of their lives
 

Jesse607

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@Mendi----> Actually I was just generalizing, I do not have a lawn right now, I live in an apartment complex surrounded by concrete jungle. When I do have a place with a yard I will do everything in my power not to have a lawn, just garden, wildflowers, field, savanah, desert, scrub, or forest. Unfortunetly that will probably only remain as a dream for awhile. Thanks for the advice though.
 

Mister Internet

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Originally posted by jezzy607
@Mendi----> Actually I was just generalizing, I do not have a lawn right now, I live in an apartment complex surrounded by concrete jungle. When I do have a place with a yard I will do everything in my power not to have a lawn, just garden, wildflowers, field, savanah, desert, scrub, or forest. Unfortunetly that will probably only remain as a dream for awhile. Thanks for the advice though.
You'll probably have to go into the country for that... 99.9% of all housing developments in suburban areas have a regulation or two on yards being "kept". I do have a small patch of wildflowers though... we decided to plant them on a whim last year since they were "annuals", and they came back with a VENGEANCE this year... annuals my white butt... :)
 

steve055

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The pretty side of Japanese Beetles. I also have lots of them my yard though they dont seem to be doing very much damage as of yet.

 

Valael

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They are beautiful beetles, but they've nearly stripped two or three of our trees (Out of 26, but still :p) so I'm after them with a vengence. Wouldn't be so bad, but we just moved into this house and the previous owners put a LOT of work into landscaping and it really looks nice, I don't want them to ruin that :p
 

scorpio

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Wow, I didnt even realize anybody replied ot this. Lately ive been drowning them to kill them, because theyve completely destroyed some flowers (although this year ive seen a lot more kaytdids and mantids than usual.....dont know if the eggsac i bought had anything to do with it, or the japanese beetles:p )

But thanks for the info maybe I will get a colony started in a Kritter Keeper. I had a ton in a box, but it rained one day and i forgot to take them inside, and Japanese beetles dont float. But I odnt really want a box that they can easily escape from if they wanted to, in the house.

Thanks. If I get a little colony of grubs started, will I be a pioneer in the field of Japanese Beetles? Also, Im thinking I will do some research on them, and collect some data. About how big are the beetles you have in your gardens? Mine are about 0.6 inches. I wonder if they would make good scorpion food. I wouldnt have to buy crickets....and I would save the environment. Like killing 2 birds with 1 stone.
 

Jesse607

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I am not sure how easy it is to grow grass in a critter keeper? Japanese beetles are generally the same size throughout their range.

There is tons of research going on with Japanese beetles at many universities around the world.

I would not feed them to pets, because they may have originated from a yard/garden laden with pesticides.
 

Valael

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The majority of the ones I've seen are all about .6 inches also.



But unless they're some completely different species of neon green beetles flying around in southern Illinois, I've seen atleast two that met and possibly broke the 1 inch mark. About the size of a quarter (around, I mean)
 

Wade

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What you're seeing are probably native cetoniids (flower beetles) known as "green june beetles" or "fig beetles". Larger than Japanese beetles, but they have a more velvety sheen as opposed to the glossy Japanese.

Wade
 

krucz36

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those fig beetles are pretty cool...my neighbor, when i lived with the mom, had a big ol' fig tree in their backyard, and true to their names the fig beetles would absolutely mob the thing when the fruit was on it. there would literally be thousands of the little guys...they're very entertaining to hold as well.
 
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