Beetlejuice

They, those pesky Japanese beetles are back like clockwork, but not in the numbers that we saw last year. I absolutely hate the thought of using pesticides so I'm back in the vineyard collecting the bugs by hand. My husband will tell you that I take a particular delight in trapping the Japanese beetles in my container of soapy water. I blogged last year that this method works because the soapy water creates a film that covers the beetle's spiracles, the way they breathe. The beetles are particularly active during the warm, humid weather that we have been having, but because they are in search of a mate, they are very easy to catch. Their natural instinct is to "play dead" and drop to the ground, so my container is there is catch them and then I quietly say, "Thank you for dropping in." After two days worth of catching beetles, this is what I have:

I found a link that explains how to take care of Japanese beetles:¹

• Larkspur – Japanese beetle will avoid larkspur as much as possible because larkspur will be toxic to them and will cause harm to their body. Thus, you can always plant some larkspur around your crops that are subject to Japanese beetle infestation.
• Herbs Scent – Using herbs to repel insects is a technique widely used in vegetable gardening. Herbs like smartweed and geraniums work wonders when it comes to Japanese beetle control.
• Japanese beetle traps attract the beetles into confinement by releasing pheromones of opposite sex and fake flower scent.
• Natural insecticides that you can use are rotenone, sabadilla and pyrethrum.

Our friends, the Holmbergs have mentioned that the Japanese beetle traps are not effective because the pheromones just lure more Japanese beetles into an area already infested with the critters. As I go up and down our vineyard rows I wonder if there is an anti-pheromone that these beetles release to warn their brethren that there is danger in these here parts. But, I can see that they are engaged in only one activity and that is in increasing their numbers. Once in a while, when a beetle flies away they do emit a sound that seems like a warning to the other beetles.
When I pick the beetles off the grape leaves, the following verse goes through my head:
          I said, Hey! You! Get off of my vine
          Hey! You! Get off of my vine
          Hey! You! Get off of my vine
          Don't hang around 'cause you'll lose your life
          On my vine, beetle.
Reference:
1. Betty Allen, Japanese Beetles.