THE Japanese Beetle Thread (merged)

Venerye

Milky spore may be a viable option now but post-PO would probably become too difficult to mass produce and distribute. If the price is prohibitive now, it will probably be much worse then... Does this sound difficult to do in a post-PO world?

pedalling_faster · Intermediate Crude Joined: Dec 10, 2005 Posts: 766

Heineken

A couple of days ago I lost my temper and went out and sprayed my Japanese beetle-infested fruit trees with a can of Raid. Killed every farking Japanese beetle, and haven't seen but one or two on the foliage since. No, there's no fruit on the trees (they're only two years old).
_________________
"Actually, humans died out long ago."
---Abused, abandoned hunting dog

"Things have entered a stage where the only change that is possible is for things to get worse."
---Me and my brother

SoothSayer

Heineken

Of course. (The actual screwing goes on above ground, though. Then the female burrows into the ground and lays her goddamned eggs there. Then she returns to my plum trees for more eating and intercourse, followed by additional egg laying.)
_________________
"Actually, humans died out long ago."
---Abused, abandoned hunting dog

"Things have entered a stage where the only change that is possible is for things to get worse."
---Me and my brother

Armageddon

when I saw the name of this thread," japanese beetles a potential post-peak food factor ", I thought people were talking eating this bugs for food. LOL , sorry , my bad.

jupiters_release · Intermediate Crude Joined: Oct 10, 2005 Posts: 720

Doly · Expert Joined: Dec 03, 2004 Posts: 4031

Heineken

Anyone who has dealt with Japanese beetles would not want to eat them. Trust me. But go ahead, give it a whirl. Chicken feed, maybe.
_________________
"Actually, humans died out long ago."
---Abused, abandoned hunting dog

"Things have entered a stage where the only change that is possible is for things to get worse."
---Me and my brother

Heineken · Last edited by Heineken on Tue Jun 24, 2008 9:03 pm; edited 1 time in total

I have been fighting Japanese beetles (JBs) for years, often unsuccessfully, and feel that a specific thread on this subject would be useful for those who want to discuss their JB experiences or simply cry on others' shoulders.
The subject overlaps several areas, including vegetable gardening, fruit trees and berries, "where to live," survivalism, and perhaps even dieoff.
Every summer in most of the US east of the Mississippi, and now in some places west, billions of JBs emerge from the ground and take wing. Their appetites for plants are ogre-ish. They can ruin a field of corn in a week, defoliate a fruit tree in a couple of days, and lay waste to Grandma's prize rose blossoms in an afternoon. They are IMO a very, very serious threat to agriculture in this country, and one that needs more attention on this site.

Without heavy use of pesticides, growing of JB-susceptible food plants in traditional agriculture is difficult or impossible. For those of us who aim for "organic" gardening and permaculture, the JB poses a perhaps insurmountable obstacle to growing many particular food plants.
What will happen when the JB becomes resistant to the pesticides used in traditional agriculture? What will happen when traditional agriculture has collapsed, and we're all trying to grow food in our backyards and bug-out farms but have inadequate means to battle the beetle?
For the beetle is very hard to battle. Even harsh pesticides can be of limited value. They'll kill the beetles currently on your plants, but in a few days or a week or two, they're back. So you have to keep spraying, over and over, with all the negative consequences of that. In the future, of course, such pesticides may not be available.

Biological or mechanical controls, like milky spore disease, nematodes, birds, and the engineered nontoxic "barrier" product Surround, often have even less impact, at least when it comes to growing food. Even if you manage to control JB reproduction on your property, the little monsters simply fly in from elsewhere.
Where I live, the JB appears in early to mid-June and persists until the end of August, when it finally fades away. This unusually long period of infestation is one of the most overwhelming features of the JB.
The JB continues to extend its range westward (after having been introduced to the US---New Jersey---as an alien species in the early 20th century). Probably the only parts of the US that are safe from its eventual colonization are Alaska and the driest areas of the Southwest and Midwest. The beetle has moved farther north than was originally believed possible, and with global warming may range north deep into Canada. (Warming could also result in even worse infestations where the JB is already established.)

Many of our members have not been exposed to the JB yet, or are still on the fringes of infestation, and thus not yet experiencing full-bore assault. Perhaps that explains some of the relative complacency I have seen expressed toward the JB on this site.
The JB is another reason why I am a doomer.
Here is a link to a map of the geographic distribution of the JB as of 2005: link
_________________
"Actually, humans died out long ago."
---Abused, abandoned hunting dog

"Things have entered a stage where the only change that is possible is for things to get worse."
---Me and my brother

Shannymara · Master Joined: Oct 04, 2004 Posts: 5141 Location: Oklahoma

Interesting map. We actually had them in central Oklahoma when I was there from 2000-2002, but not in overwhelming numbers. I haven't seen any here in east Texas - yet.
_________________
"Every junkie's like a setting sun..." - Neil Young

Heineken

I have had some limited success with the "barrier" product Surround (a nontoxic, clay-like material you mix with water and spray onto plants). It does suppress (not eliminate) the JB if applied early in the JB season. The problem is that, every time it rains, most of it washes off. So you have to keep spraying after every rain, a huge task if you have many susceptible food plants. And by the time the rain has dried, beetles have flown onto your plants and established their chemical signature that will attract other beetles to those plants for the rest of the summer, no matter how much you re-spray.
The wash-off problem with Surround is its Achilles heel. Also, it's fairly expensive, and there's no guarantee it will be available in the future.
_________________
"Actually, humans died out long ago."
---Abused, abandoned hunting dog

"Things have entered a stage where the only change that is possible is for things to get worse."
---Me and my brother

BastardSquad · Heavy Crude Joined: Oct 24, 2004 Posts: 306

According to your map they're established(survey)in my area.
I'll keep an eye out for them this year.
I wander if they're edible? If they kill my crops(in a crash scenario)I'll have to eat something. Twisted Evil

I'm still feeling doomerish about the lack of honey bees,but what the hell,might as well add JB's to the list.
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"Switzerland is small and neutral.We need to be more like Germany,ambitious and misunderstood!" Futurama

"As for the dieoff of 5E+09 people - not a problem, so long as I'm not one of them." Jack

Colorado-Valley · Intermediate Crude Joined: Aug 16, 2004 Posts: 729

Wait until you guys run into squash bugs.

Shock

frankthetank

I've never noticed them here along the banks of the Mississippi. I do have rose chafers that eat the hell out of pretty much all my fruit tree leaves. I squished over 100 so i'm hoping there reproduction, atleast in my yard, is way down. Their eggs hatch in the soil and the larvae burrows deep into the ground (they like sand) emerging next year. I wonder why they aren't around here?
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