I've been posting about all the insect life on the wild grape blossoms and using that as a trap crop to catch Japanese beetles.
Well I've now netted and drowned about 25 of them and I am starting to really hate it! They are tough little critters and don't drown easily, I have to keep pushing them down into the soapy water, so it feels like I am actively murdering them.
They are such beautiful little creatures when alive and gleaming in the sun...
I don't know if what I'm doing is making a difference or not, I'm still not seeing them anywhere else but on the grape vine and I don't care if they eat that. I can't say there are any less there than when I started. I've never seen a bunch at once, just every time I watch for awhile I spot one or two.
Ahimsa would say all living beings are sacred and we should avoid violence to any of them. This is starting to feel like a very violent pastime. After I drowned 6 of them this afternoon, it was making me feel sick, so I went and did something else.
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Rainbowgardener, FWIW, if you use a stronger soap solution, they'll drown on their own.... or at least I think so. DH favors Ivory bar soap. For some reason, he opens a new bar when he's only 1/2 way done with the old, and accumulates the used soap around the sink. So I take them and put them in a lemon netting bag hanging on the outside faucet. I rub this soap in a container of water until it's cloudy.
Since Japanese Beetles either fall down or fly up, I position the cup directly under them, they fall in, and in a short while -- really almost immediately -- become motionless. If it really bothers you, you might use rubbing alcohol in a deep container with tight lid instead (like a quart size deli/soup or yogurt container).
You might also try my plastic grocery bag method. Bend the foliage into the bag, hold it closed around the branch/stem and give a good shake. Japanese Beetle Dance is optional . You could also tie the bag closed and leave it out in the sun. If that bothers you, another option is to get some dry ice and put a piece in the bag with them....
Since Japanese Beetles either fall down or fly up, I position the cup directly under them, they fall in, and in a short while -- really almost immediately -- become motionless. If it really bothers you, you might use rubbing alcohol in a deep container with tight lid instead (like a quart size deli/soup or yogurt container).
You might also try my plastic grocery bag method. Bend the foliage into the bag, hold it closed around the branch/stem and give a good shake. Japanese Beetle Dance is optional . You could also tie the bag closed and leave it out in the sun. If that bothers you, another option is to get some dry ice and put a piece in the bag with them....
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FWIW, if you use a stronger soap solution, they'll drown on their own....
I don't know about that. When they weren't drowning very easily, I dripped drops of Dr. Bronner's right on them. They still didn't die very fast...
Appreciate the suggestions, but the real problem is whether I should be killing them at all. Having to work so hard at it just makes me more aware of it.
I never remember having this many of them... but if I weren't watching that grape vine so closely, I still wouldn't think I had JB's. Ignorance was bliss?
I don't know about that. When they weren't drowning very easily, I dripped drops of Dr. Bronner's right on them. They still didn't die very fast...
Appreciate the suggestions, but the real problem is whether I should be killing them at all. Having to work so hard at it just makes me more aware of it.
I never remember having this many of them... but if I weren't watching that grape vine so closely, I still wouldn't think I had JB's. Ignorance was bliss?
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Well, I can't answer the ethical dilemma....
I do have the thought that this relates to the problem described regarding Native Insects needing Native Plants, and so on up the food chain/web.. Japanese beetles aren't fussy about what they eat but I suspect there aren't as many Native natural controls in the form of predators as there needs to be. So I'm afraid you're it.
I might spread Milky Spore on the soil around that grape vine.....
I do have the thought that this relates to the problem described regarding Native Insects needing Native Plants, and so on up the food chain/web.. Japanese beetles aren't fussy about what they eat but I suspect there aren't as many Native natural controls in the form of predators as there needs to be. So I'm afraid you're it.
I might spread Milky Spore on the soil around that grape vine.....
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