I've been dealing with them for 6 years now. What i've learned is that hand removing is almost the only option I have...usually 2x a day if I can find the time. I have 2 traps for Rose Chafers and yes, they capture a lot of beetles...but...they bring in a ton of beetles from all over. I've also noticed my Peonies are Rose Chafer magnets...they love them. It must be the floral scent. I usually hand squish the breeding ones. If you notice, there is always a couple of males sitting near by watching. When they find a fruit (apricots) they usually send in all their buddies to feed and they can do a lot of damage. If anything, keep an eye on the fruit and don't worry about leaf damage. It would be nice to have a grub treatmet for Rose Chafers, since the grubs are easily found in the spring.

This year they haven't been bad, but they were very early. Mine started showing up around the 20th of May...so they are pretty much done at this point.

Thanks for the input. Peonies are definitely their favorite, and I see masses of them on irises as well. They seem to have moved off the blueberries and strawberries, which I've been dowsing with neem, and are now attacking grapes, which have had only one dose of neem (until yesterday). I usually see them in mating pairs, rarely singly, and they do all seem to congregate on certain plants at a time.

I've read that nematodes can help with the grubs, although the BT I've used doesn't seem to help much. Part of it is that I have over an acre of open grass which is hard to cover. I've only been using BT at the base of plants and fruit tress. Likely not near enough. They've been out about two weeks, so still have a couple more to go. I'll be glad when they are done.

They really let off at the end. I haven't even been looking for them the past few days. They just kind of disappear. They love grapes. That is a tough one to protect and annoying because its hard to pick them off. One thing I've learned over the years is to use a little bucket of water and blow on them...they usually tumble right into the water. They also seem to be attracted heavily to my plums, apricots and sweet cherries...but I rarely find them in my pears, peaches and only a little damage on the small fruits (raspberries, strawberries, blueberries)... Like I said...this year wasn't bad. Compared to Plum Curculio, at least in my yard, they are more a nuisance then anything. Curculio can take out a whole crop if given the chance.

Yes, I've seen PC for the first time this year. It's hit my plum and pear harvest pretty hard. I'll be ready for them next year.

About 10 days ago I installed 4 Japanese beetle traps to combat the rose chafer plague in my gardens and orchard. So far, the traps appear to be doing nothing. I covered my nectarine tree with a net. However, the rose chafer beetles are still present and most of the young fruit has been destroyed by large cavities reaching the pit. I have never had a problem with this beetle before. I think that my ecosystem is out of balance with the early spring, the long drought during the winter and early spring, and minimal populations of tadpoles, mosquitoes and black flies.

Japanese Beetle traps will not work for Rose Chafer... The Rose Chafer traps are white (at least the ones I ordered) and you can get them from

http://www.greatlakesipm.com/

Good company that ships quickly.

I've read that if you use them for several years in a row, you can really dent the local population... I didn't put out any traps this year after using them last year.

Is there anything we can use on the larvae in the soil? I feel better fighting them at that stage if possible-less effect on the bees. OR is there even a chemical that can become systemic in the tree when added to soil?

Removed post as it contained incorrect information.

This post was edited by Capoman on Mon, Jul 1, 13 at 8:56