:( Dang it!

My grandfather used those phermone traps on his property and it did nothing to protect his plants. I do think they only attract more, but that is my only experience with them. I've never tried them myself. Bucket of soapy water is all I've ever used.

ryseryse, I'm sorry to hear that. Beetles started arriving for me a couple of days ago. I don't get too many - many 10-15 a day tops so I just drown them in the morning and the evening.

What's odd is I have a hollyhock that seeded into the bed in front of my house. It's pretty much nothing bu weeds there as I will be redoing the entire area soon. That plant has not one drop of rust and not one leaf toched by JBs. The hoolyhock that is actually in my bed is not so lucky.

The pheromone traps are used as early detection systems, not any sort of preventative......and I think they can act as an attractor. I give many thanks that these horrible beetles do not terrorise us in the UK...truly demoralising. Our non-winter has given rise to an apocalypse of pests and disease - snail banquets beyond all avarice, rusts and mildews.....although my gardens are far too full so frankly, there will be some culling this summer which can only be a good thing - survival of the fittest and all that (in fact the missing roses, lilies and laughable hosta skeletons attest to an early start on the murder season).

Not many Japanese Beetles this year here in the MD suburbs of DC...

First time In about 3 years I've gotten more than a handful here in NYC, I do soap-bucket-handpick method of control, seems to work.

We don't have JBs here yet - I suppose because the soil can freeze in the winter to a depth of @5 feet.

Read somewhere there's a "social" aspect to the beetles - they find one of their kind and suddenly you've got clusters. Taking into account the pheromones they exude for mating, etc.

They were pretty awful in Maryland when I lived there - they could go through a good sized purple plum ornamental like a buzz saw virtually in a day.

" Posted by saltidawg Z6 MD (My Page) on
Wed, Jul 2, 14 at 17:49

Not many Japanese Beetles this year here in the MD suburbs of DC..."

Worse year for them ever here in NE Maryland near the upper Ches. Bay. My thinking is something that eats them usually is in short supply, or last summer's wet weather was perfect for them to set up a population explosion. Unlike DC, IIRC, I always had heavy snow cover here during the winter's freezes, so it's possible the soil didn't freeze very deep. (in fact there are plenty of indications it did not, not even as bad as in some other recent winters. Tender perennials, such as they were, had their roots survive)

I was meaning to document this anyhow so I just went out to take the picture. My entire Zanthoxylum simulans looks like this. It will pull through though, they are already gone.

Well I see a straggler now, but about 5 days ago there must have been well over 200 in this 9' tree. They were coating the branches. I have one of the old style zapper racquets (without the stupid safety screen) and it was fun to go out and swat at them, but it doesn't really make much of a difference. It's more useful to protect myself from flies.