We seem to have a growing Japanese Beetle problem. I did not spot too many of them last year, but this year they are happily feasting on my grape vines, the peach tree, and other things I have planted.

Japanese beetles are an invasive species that came to this country about 80 years ago or so. They are voracious eaters and have no natural predators to keep the populations in check. They start life as a grub under ground eating the roots of grasses. They are one of the two main lawn killing grubs in this part of the country. Fortunately, I do not appear to have any brown spots in the lawn yet, so now is the time to get them under control.

I am not a person who uses or advocates the use of chemicals as broad preventive treatments. I think that using an insecticide like Grub-X or something else kills not only the grubs, but most of the other insects, and possibly poisons other animals higher up in the food chain. It is one thing to spray a dangerous bees nest for example, but unloading several 20 pound bags of insect killing powder on the lawn doesn’t seem right, especially since we and all our neighbors have wells for drinking water.

To that end, I decided to use Milky Spore or Bacillus popillae treatment on the lawn and garden.  Upon ingestion, these spores germinate in the grub’s gut, infect the gut cells, and enter the blood, where they multiply. The buildup of the spores in the blood causes the grub to take on a characteristic milky appearance. Milky spore disease builds up in turf slowly (over 2-4 years) as grubs ingest the spores, become infected, and die, each releasing 1-2 billion spores back into the soil. Milky spore disease can suppress the development of large beetle populations. It is a little pricey, a 20 pound bag of Grub-x is about $12.00, a 20 pound bag of Milky Spore is $35.00. All things considered, the Milky Spore lasts 20 to 25 years per treatment. The Grub-x lasts until the rain washes the chemicals out of the soil.

As you can see, this is not an immediate cure. Where ever I find Japanese Beetles I have been killing them by hand. This has kept them in check to some extent and will likely be satisfactory until the Milky Spore takes full effect.

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