Watch Video >>

Japanese beetles are the most widespread turf and grass pests in the United States. Native to Japan, these bugs were first discovered in the United States in 1916 in Riverton, New Jersey. With no natural predators on this continent, these beetles have been slowly spreading across the country over the past few decades.

Meet the Beetles

Adult Japanese beetles eat more than 400 plant varieties. They lay eggs up to four times a year in moist turf, like freshly watered grass, and around plants, particularly trees. The eggs hatch in August and the grubs feed off plant roots, causing patches of dead grass.

Signs of Japanese beetle infestation include devoured plants and dead patches of grass. To find out if they are present in your lawn, pull the grass back. If you have them, you will see grubs, which grow from ½" to 1" long, eating the roots. If you don’t see beetles or dead grass but you have a sickly plant in your yard, you can dig carefully around the roots of an afflicted plant to look for grubs.

Ways to Stop Them

An environmentally conscious way to get rid of Japanese beetles is to hand-collect and destroy them. Although it sounds ineffective, the collecting does slow the damage. The presence of even one beetle can attract others, since Japanese beetles can fly anywhere from one to five miles to look for food, mates and a suitable place to lay eggs. This is why pheromone traps, sold at gardening shops to get rid of Japanese beetles, are more harmful than effective and can actually attract more beetles to your garden.

Pesticides, particularly those that specifically target grubs, can prevent the beetles from destroying your plants. The availability of particular pesticides effective against Japanese beetles depends on the state you live in, so it’s best to consult a local garden shop on which ones to use.