Found this guy on my place today...

[cjmach1973]

Bt makes us butterfly gardeners nervous. It affects all young caterpillars

[cjmach1973]

Keep your eye out for egg cases, they are like little blobs of light brown styro. You can also order them online in the spring.

[Georgia 8b]

Supposedly the milky spore is a bacteria or fungus that naturally dwells in the soil in Japan and helps keep the JB population down there. It is not a poison and has been pretty well studied. That's not to say it can't have side-effects but it's about as "safe" as anything you can use for reducing the JB population.

Also, if you don't have the years it takes for milky spore to start working, they just made a new BT called BTG that works on JB. Hallelujah!

[DBJohnson]

Saw a female today on the other side of the porch while taking down the greenhouse. Phone was dead so I didn't get a pic, but the sighting bodes well for next year!

[WillsC]

Great shot DB, I love those bugs rarely see one though.

[cis4elk]

From what I understand, it would affect any grub that ingests the spore while happily munching away at roots.

[RegencyLass]

I flip the JB off into a #10 coffee tin with a couple of inches of water in the bottom so they don't fly off. Then I empty the tin into a pan for the ducks...they go crazy after them, turning the JB into duck eggs.

[cjmach1973]

never trust when they say it only affects one thing.

[Harborseal]

My favorite insect! BTW Nothing eats Japanese beetles .

You can buy milky spore disease from places like Planet Natural. Over 2 - 4 years they will tremendously decrease the Japanese Beetle population. The disease affects only Japanese beetles.

[Dave]

I had a nest in one of my big bushes near my garage for a couple of years then the past few years I have not seen a one I was hoping they would stay around I do have quite a bit of birds maybe they ate them

[GregMartin]

When I had chickens they did a great job eating JBs. A friend who has chickens buys the pheromone traps, puts them in her chicken run and cuts the very bottom off so that that JBs fall down to the chickens....free chicken food.

Kelby, hope that you're right about the adaptation....can't happen soon enough.

[Taverna78]

That seven beetle spray works wonders for jap beetle. I love the mantis

[DBJohnson]

Could have used an army of them a few weeks ago. The garden is now out of commission due to the Great Squash Bug Invasion of 2016.

[Kelby]

Assassin/wheel bugs do. I think more predatory insects are adapting to eat them.

[vito12831]

My favorite insect! BTW Nothing eats Japanese beetles .

[Fygmalion]

I like having them in my garden... Seems like they control the population of most other bugs in the garden (with the possible exception of Japanese Beetles)...

T

[fitzski]

Nice, Bryant. Last year I had one hanging out in an Alberta Spruce next to my mailbox for a few days. I started talking to it and one time it turned it's head to look at me. Hope he hangs out for a while ...

[DBJohnson]

...and, yes, that pic has been flipped. He was hanging upside down on the wind chimes.

[DBJohnson]

...hope he brings his friends and families for the future. They're always welcome!