Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Japanese Beetles

I like what Bill at Hilton Pond says about Japanese Beetles: "What we like is their metallic color and what is we don't like is everything else."

It's soon time for them to arrive here in Central Virginia and the rest of the East Coast. These persistent leaf-feeders were brought accidentally to New Jersey from the Orient in 1916 and they've not had any predator to keep them in control.

They are a gardening menace. I believe all things work for some good in the natural realm and I do know the grackles like them. We've got more grackles this year so maybe they'll work for their keep ... however, they sure do seem to prefer the feeders.

While I've been transplanting a lot of things in the garden, I come across the grubs that create these beetles. Not one to want to kill anything, I place them in the bird feeder so the grub-eating birds can find a treat amongst their usual fare.

Read the entire article about these pesty bugs at the Hilton Pond site.

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