Everything I have read about the subject has warned against using besieged Japanese Beatle traps. Apparently you do trap some, but you also attract a lot more than you trap to come from neighboring areas . . . So I do not use them.

Angie

We live out in the country, and didn't have any Japanese Beetles for years, then they started showing up in droves, eating all kinds of yellow, pink, and white flowers. When I'm out mowing with the John Deere tractor, the damn things will light on the yellow paint and hitch a ride. Get on our white car and PU too. I think your info is probably about urban areas, not where we are.
The best control I've used for non-edible plants is Merit wettable powder, a systemic insecticide. Drenching the soil in winter to kill grubs, and regular spraying in bloom time will usually kill'em, but not until they've eaten some. Hand picking is a PITA, but a necessary evil.

Granted, I am a suburban gardener. But I have never seen anything that suggested a difference between urban and suburban conditions. Here are some university extension articles that deal with Japanese beetles and trapping:

Purdue Extension
https://www3.ag.purdue.edu/counties/marion/Pages/JapaneseBeetles.aspx

"Avoid Japanese Beetle Traps: There is no doubt that Japanese beetle traps catch large numbers of beetles. However, they usually do not reduce damage to plantings. Research has shown that these traps attract many more beetles than are caught. Therefore, susceptible plants along the flight path of the beetles and in the vicinity of the traps are likely to suffer more severe damage than if no traps were used."

Colorado State Extension
http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/insect/05601.html
"Unfortunately, Japanese beetle traps are ineffective for control where Japanese beetle is well established over a large area, common now in many Front Range locations. Repeated trials have demonstrated that use of such traps does not reduce the number of beetles damaging nearby vegetation. Furthermore, the use of Japanese beetle traps often increases damage by Japanese beetles by drawing into the vicinity larger numbers of beetles than are captured in the traps. Because of this Japanese beetle traps are not recommended for Japanese beetle control."

University of Kentucky Extension
http://www2.ca.uky.edu/entomology/entfacts/ef451.asp
Unfortunately, research conducted at the University of Kentucky showed that the traps attract many more beetles than are actually caught. Consequently, susceptible plants along the flight path of the beetles and in the vicinity of traps are likely to suffer much more damage than if no traps are used at all. In most landscape situations, use of Japanese beetle traps probably will do more harm than good. If you experiment with traps, be sure to place them well away from gardens and landscape plants.

University of Illinois Extension
http://extension.cropsci.illinois.edu/fieldcrops/insects/japanese_beetle/
"Since the trapping of adult beetles involves the use of pheromones, traps generally attract beetles from surrounding areas. Their use as a tool for control is not recommended."

North Carolina State University Extension
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/ent/notes/O&T/flowers/note44/note44.html
"The traps are much more effective in attracting Japanese beetles than in trapping them."

University of Wisconsin Extension
http://hort.uwex.edu/articles/japanese-beetle
"[U]se of Japanese beetle traps often attracts more beetles, and results in subsequent damage to plants."

We do get people posting in these forums several times per year about how they have discovered these great beetle traps and how many beetles they have trapped. True, you will get lots of dead beetles in the traps. And that does make them seem like they must be working. But you will get many more eating your plants. In fact, the only people i have ever heard recommend them are the people selling them. Otherwise, every single knowledgeable and reputable source I have seen says to avoid them. The best way to use traps for Japanese beetle control would appear to be giving them to the neighbors you do not like. :)

But, if you still think they are a good way to control the beetle population . . . well, enjoy!

Angie

Are these those shiny green little beetles? I hate them and they show up in droves around me every year. And yes, they do love to eat flowers. They tear up roses really bad. I spray with Sevin when they get me PO'ed enough. I even make it a game to try to spray them individually with a good squirt. I especially like it when they are doing the "piggy back" thing and I hit 'em with a stream of Sevin.

They also are found quite a bit on my Peppers but I don't know that they do much damage to them. On my peppers, I just flick them off with a finger and watch them sail through the air.

I have treated my lawn to prevent the Grub stage of them, but it didn't help. Later, I just figured that unless everyone in my neighborhood did the same, that it wasn't going to do me any good, which it didn't.

HHLady,
Oh, there's plenty difference between controlling pests in a urban, suburban, and rural areas. Fire ants are a great example. If everybody around you uses proper controls, you may find one nest occasionally. If you're in a rural setting with pastures near, then all you can do is spot treat'em. Control is non-existent.
I don't agree with those studies, as I've been using these traps for several years, and remember what it was like before we started using them. Orders of magnitude difference. Real world and academic studies are two different things...

The question is : HOW THEY ARE ATTRACTED ? FROM HOW FAR AWAY CAN THEY BE LURED TO COME TO YOUR YARD?

If attraction is visual , you cannot lure them even from your neighbor's yard. If attraction is by scent/smell even then it cannot bring them from miles away. But since they are attraccted to YELLOW, WHITE and PINK, then obviously you are attracting those that are already there.

TomT226, that is ingenious idea! Do you use pheromone? What attract the JB to your trap?

Don't use any pheromones. Just a squirt or lemon or orange scented dish soap in the water.
The JB's are attracted to the heavy blooming condition of our yellow, white, and pink roses, and other bloomers of that color. Since the funnel is larger, they seem to go for it first. There's an example...

Tom, where are you (in zone 8) that has such a problem with JBs and especially this early in the year?

Hey Tom. Ever heard of Istocheta aldrichi? Me neither, until I read the article at the link below. Apparently it is a small tachinid fly that parasitizes the beetle by laying eggs on it. Don't have a clue if it is available commercially or if it would work in your conditions.

Nice trap, by the way. And the roses and the planter box look great.

Good Luck

Rick

P.S. You need to scroll down a bit for the article.

Here is a link that might be useful: Istocheta aldrichi

rhizo_1,
We're in Bastrop County Texas, about 20 miles east of Austin. They're pretty much everywhere in this area now at this time of the year with CC and the droughts...

rdback
Good info. I'm still waitin' on the tachinid wasps that parasitize fire ants. Supposed to be testing those west of here...

I have only experience JB damaging roses and dahlia.
The info in this thread is very interesting and useful.

Thanks Tom.

I have not seen JB in my garden but a lot of Texas beetles. The grubs destroyed all my beets this year.
The Texas beetle I am referring to is similar to JB but its brownish instead of greenish.
Do you think your trap will work with the Texans?
Are there pheromones available for Texans? My chickens love them.

The traps catch all kinds of flying beetles. I took the trouble to identify JB's, which are the main problem. I've never used pheromones for control.

I do not know how big your property is, but you may want to consider placing traps around the perimeter - away from your plants.

You will both trap the JBs and draw them away from your plants.

Hi,

I'm also plagued with the devils here, although I can't say that they have any color preference, and as they adore Hibiscus syriacus leaves (no signs of flowers yet) it's not specifically a scent issue either. As an experiment I put up pots of white geraniums and placed them next to two roses including their favorite meal (my Hansa rose - I've forgotten what a flower on it looks like, although I do recall they were fragrant). As you may know Hansa is not white, yellow or pink, but a deep magenta color. I had read that white geraniums were a delicacy and the beetles would eat the flowers and fall intoxicated beneath it. Well, it's been nearly a week and not one floret has been damaged. Last year I tried the same experiment with pink geraniums with the same results......Oh, love to spend more time weeding or enjoying my garden instead of hunting Japanese Beetles all day long.

Some years are worse than others. I use a trap. Some years I'll get a few quarts full of them, others half a quart. The past 2 years haven't been too bad at all here in the Hudson valley of N.Y.

Has anyone tried using the fermented fruit cocktail juice to attract and drown?