Japanese Beetles - Agriculture

A little out of date but interesting reading and information:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Ian Foley

June 19, 2009
(406) 444-9430

Efforts Expand to Eradicate Japanese Beetle in Montana

HELENA, Mont. — State insect specialists are working on two fronts to prevent an invasive pest that damages lawns and ornamental plants from becoming established in Montana.

An 18-member team headed by the Montana Department of Agriculture distributed nearly 500 insect traps and information recently southeast of Kalispell, where a pair of Japanese beetles were trapped last summer.

"This is an insect we do not want taking up residence in Montana. It could do a lot of damage to fruit trees, homeowners' lawns and gardens, and the nursery industry in our state," says Ken Puliafico, a PhD entomologist who holds a temporary assignment with the department to head the effort to monitor and eradicate Japanese beetles.

The shiny copper- and green-colored insects, about the size of a thumbtack, were first found in 2001 near the Billings airport, where they apparently hitched a ride on airport cargo from Midwestern states. Extensive monitoring with pheromone and floral scented traps has verified a small but apparently resident population in a four-block area around the Montana State University-Billings campus south of the airport.

Japanese beetle is the most destructive pest of turf grass in eastern North America, Puliafico says. It was introduced into the United States in 1916 and all states east of the Mississippi River are considered infested. Losses attributed to the larval "grub" stage of the insect have been estimated at $234 million per year.

Scientists are not really sure how Japanese beetles found their way to the new location east of Kalispell. In a cooperative effort, personnel with the department and the USDA Plant Protection and Quarantine service placed nearly 500 Japanese beetle traps in early June as part of a delimitation survey to learn the extent of a possible infestation in the Flathead Valley.

The green and yellow plastic traps will be monitored bi-weekly by department personnel and will remain in place until the middle of September.

Meanwhile, the department is increasing its eradication efforts in the Billings area along the Rimrocks and the west side of the MSU-Billings campus. An estimated 300 scented traps are available in that fight area, some of them given to homeowners the past few summers.

Trapping of adult beetles and chemical control of immature grubs is strongly recommended for all landowners in the infested area, said Ian Foley, state entomologist with the department. Free lure refills for people with their own traps will be available at the Yellowstone County Extension Service starting in July.

In 2008, the Montana Department of Agriculture established a regulated area covering part of Yellowstone County to prevent the artificial spread of the pest within Montana. The regulated area is south and north of the airport, bordered on the south by Grand Avenue, and on the east and west along lines roughly corresponding to the edges of the airport. Movement out of the area of soil, sod and other materials that might harbor beetle larvae is prohibited.

Yellowstone County extension agent Amy Grandpre, Montana Department of Agriculture field specialist Bob Bales, or any member of the department's Pest Management Section in Helena can provide additional information about the regulated area.

Montana residents who find suspected Japanese beetle adults are asked to attempt to capture the beetles in a small plastic container or glass jar and deliver it to their local county extension agent or an office of the Montana Department of Agriculture.

For more information about the effort, contact Ian Foley at the department (406) 444-9430 or by email at agr@mt.gov. Information about the regulated area and the Japanese beetle also can be found at http://agr.mt.gov/weedpest/caps/.