News

Japanese beetles taking bite out of central Illinois

Posted July 09, 2007 11:00 pm

Molly Parker

By MOLLY PARKER

Of the Journal Star

PEORIA

- The Japanese beetle, with its high-class taste for expensive trees and rose plants and penchant for laying eggs in well-manicured lawns, has moved into the Tri-County area.

Molly Parker can be reached at 686-3285 or mparker@pjstar.com.

"They're just now appearing for the first time here," said Dave Ploussard, garden center manager for Hoerr Nursery, 8020 N. Shade Tree Drive.

"They're slowly spreading around."

The metallic green insects, just shy of half an inch long, feast on leaves by chewing around the veins, a process called skeletonizing.

The trees don't typically die as a result, but the leaves left behind turn brown and fall off long before fall.

Ploussard said he's seen a few in his Morton yard, but luckily they were eating weeds and not his peach tree.

Donna Sturm, who lives on 28 acres in rural Chillicothe near Dunlap, wasn't so fortunate. Last year, she saw just a handful of beetles and didn't think much of it.

"This year I saw a couple and I thought, well, maybe they'll be a few again just like last year," she said. "Then I walked out and my little prize was being chomped on."

Strum's "little prize" is a contorted hazelnut tree, a slow-growing accent plant that cost her about $75.

There were hundreds of Japanese beetles swarming the tree that early July day.

To thwart the beetles, Sturm purchased three pheromone traps for a nominal fee - about $7 each - which she said has largely taken care of the problem.

"They smell the pheromone and they go to the yellow-colored trap and slide into an hourglass plastic black bag and they can't get out," said Sturm, owner of Ancient Prairie Habitats, a horticulture business she runs from her home.

Strum prefers the traps to chemical spraying, though not everyone agrees on the best way to rid a yard of Japanese beetles.

"We don't recommend the pheromone traps because the smell can draw more beetles to the yard," said Ella Maxwell, a horticulturist for Hoerr Nursery, who suggests a chemical spray if the bugs show up to dine on plants in your yard.

Spot just a few Japanese beetles?

Prepare yourself, Maxwell said.

"We are seeing the numbers increasing in the Tri-County area," she said. "Because the adults will lay eggs that become a grub larva, next year they'll probably be more. The numbers each year can increase to where they'll be a significant problem for some homeowners with plants they love."

If you're head is buzzing from all the summer bug talk - the noisy 17-year cicada, the emerald ash borer and now the Japanese beetle- you're not alone.

But relax, Maxwell said.

"We live in a very diverse and wonderful world," she said, noting a few bugs is just part and parcel.

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