Thursday, July 8, 2010

Japanese Beetle Parasite


We really don't like Japanese beetles.
That is an understatement.
But there are a few that we should allow to live.
There is a fly called Tachinid fly. Each female fly can deposit up to 100 eggs over a fourteen day period. They deposit them on Japanese beetles. When the eggs hatch they cause the beetle to fall to the ground and borrow into it. The eggs eat the beetle and then the life cycle begins again as they hatch into flies and find new beetles.
Pesticide use stops this from happening. Killing ALL beetles stops this from happening. In Japan, where the beetle is from, they do not have the same problems as we do because they have a natural balance of the fly and the beetle.
And so my friends what to do?
Look carefully at your beetles and any that you see with white dots on them, ( usually on their backs) leave them alone. Let the flies do their thing and multiply.
Use nematodes on your lawn in the spring to help with grub control. Those grubs are baby beetles. The nematodes love to eat them.
Watch for those little white dots.