# June bug eradication suggestions?



## 1farmgirl

How can I get rid of June bugs naturally? They are flying all over around my garden. By June bugs I mean these fat, 1 inch or so long irridescent green with brown edging.


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## insocal

Why on earth would you want to "get rid of" June bugs?

That's like getting rid of cicadas, or honeybees, or katydids, or whatever..........they are a part of nature. And they are not a pest, in that they do not harm people, animals, or crops. 

Leave them be. Better yet, learn to enjoy them. I spent 15 minutes today watching hordes of the darned things in my fig tree. I think a bunch of BOY June bugs/scarab beetles/whatever got a whiff of a GIRL June bug and were lining up to service her, way up in the fig. They were buzzing all over the place for a while, and huge masses were on one branch. It was fascinating.


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## Pony

One very good reason for getting rid of june bugs is that they start out as grubs that do damage in your lawn and garden. 

We use milky spore. You apply it with a spreader.

I don't have any suggestions for eradicating the adults, though.

Pony!


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## GeorgiaberryM

When I was a kid I remember my grandpa making junebug traps. He would put a shoplight so it would shine on a dishpan of soapy water, and at night the bugs would get in the pan and drown. Kind of like a huge flea trap. I remember that if you don't empty the pan every day it stinks really bad! You could feed them to chickens or pigs . . .


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## 1farmgirl

They are flying all around my tomatoes. I did have a severe grub and cutworm problem in the spring. Now when I am trying to pick tomatoes, I have to dodge these kamikazes. I'm ok with one here and there. Not ok with 10 for every foot of row. I do not go wiping out the bug population because I don't like bugs. Usually it is the opposite. I don't want to kill the bugs and then I end up with the problem for years (their offspring). Last year it was blister beetles. First I had a couple, then hundreds and within four days they had my 25 ft row of bushy tomatoes chewed to stems(I didn't know they ate tomato plants!). Before that was squash bugs :grump: . I HATE squash bugs. They always ruin my squash. I don't use chemicals in my garden. I am trying to learn how to balance everything so I don't have a pest problem. I did figure out how to practically eliminate bugs on my potatoes. I actually picked more potato bugs off of my tomatoes, than my potatoes this year. I interplanted wax beans in my potatoes. They were pretty!

Kathy


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## chuckhole

As Pony said, you are seeing the adult form. The June bugs will lay their eggs and hibernate during the winter. Their life cycle lasts for two to three years, most of it as grub worms that feed off your lawn and young seedlings. The larvae will mature after winter and you will start to see the adults around April or May. Their ground holes look like ant holes. The adults are suckers for the bug zapper.

I get rid of the larvae with numerous heavy mulching and tillings before planting. Also, if your growing season is not too short, you can lay black plastic down at the end of your season. Keep it tight to the soil for about two to three weeks. It will build up enough heat to sterilize your soil. This will help tremendously with weed seeds as well.

The downside to heavy tilling and "cooking" the soil is that if you have a good supply of earthworms, they leave or die. If you have lots of earthworms, then mulch only.

One thing that helps with cut worms is using paper cups when planting. Cut the bottom out of the cups and insert them into the ground with about 1/2" showing. Plant your seeds inside the cup. This will protect the young shoots.


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## woodspirit

insocal said:


> Why on earth would you want to "get rid of" June bugs?
> 
> That's like getting rid of cicadas, or honeybees, or katydids, or whatever..........they are a part of nature. And they are not a pest, in that they do not harm people, animals, or crops.
> 
> Leave them be. Better yet, learn to enjoy them. I spent 15 minutes today watching hordes of the darned things in my fig tree. I think a bunch of BOY June bugs/scarab beetles/whatever got a whiff of a GIRL June bug and were lining up to service her, way up in the fig. They were buzzing all over the place for a while, and huge masses were on one branch. It was fascinating.


There are two kinds of beetles. First kind eat insects. Second kind eat plants. In fact the plant eating type_ do_ harm plants, and so by proxy they harm people. June bugs are larger than Japanese beetles. The latter are metallic green and have metallic copper colored backs. I have about 100 blueberry plants and it looks like I'm going to lose most of the crop this year to Japanese beetles. So maybe I shouldn't be concerned that I'm losing ten quarts per plant, which is about 1000 quarts of blueberries. Maybe I should just sit in the hot sun and watch the wonder of nature devour what I've spent a fortune and twenty years creating. Come to think about it wildfires, earthquakes, mudslides, and tidal waves are also wonders of nature that should be experienced first hand and enjoyed while smoking local herbage too I guess. 
As far as controlling them, you can use sevin or pyrethrins. Insecticidal soap works as well but needs to be applied directly to the insects. Unfortunately when the temps reach 80 to 95 and the winds are low, they can travel many miles and will follow pheromone trails and flower fragrances to find each other and food. Traps shouldn't be used because they draw more to your garden.


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## Rita

I always thought June bugs were harmless and fun for kids and that might be so if they aren't too numerous. However, since I have been veg. gardening here I found their grubs (which by the way are huge!) kept eating the roots off my newly sprouted seeds. There would be less and less of the sprouts and then I noticed the tunnels they make and dug them up and killed as many as I could find! They are very numerous this year. Rita


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## Chris in PA

Ok, a few things to straighten out, I hope.

Milky spore only kills the grubs of the japanese beetles. If you are having issues with those beetles then spread the milky spore. It does not kill the grubs of other insects. And it is my understanding you will not see good results from the application for a year or two for the spore must multiply in your soil.

You can also get rid of the adults by putting out lure traps. DON'T put them near your garden. You want to draw the bugs away from your garden or your blueberries.

We have also sprayed the apple trees, grape vines and such with a Fruit tree spray. It has helped with the japanese beetles also.

As for "june bugs", I have not had a problem either with the grubs in my garden or the bugs. I have found grubs in the garden but I usually kill them with the turning of the garden. We don't have masses of 'june bugs'.

Letting the chickens range in the garden outside the growing season also helps.


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## jnap31

marvella said:


> i don't think they hurt anything. my kids used to catch them and tie a string to their leg and let them fly around.


Me to I dont think they do much damag eeven in the grub form and as adults they do no damage. I dont know if they have good years and bad years or what but seems like last time I was at my grandpa's I saw 5% of what I had chased as a child he agreed they seemed to be thinner now.


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## Gailann Schrader

With Japanese beetles, I had a herd of chickens. And the attractant. Hang the attractant where the chickens can reach the Japanese beetles coming in for their 'woman.' The chickens get fat and sassy and the Japanese beetles get appreciably less. Free chicken food.

Should work for June Bugs also...


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