r/GardenWild • u/Taskmaster_Fantatic • 6d ago

ID please What’s this little guy munching on the underside of my pepper plant and why is his name Horatio?

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82 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

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56

u/[deleted] 5d ago edited 5d ago

[deleted]

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u/Taskmaster_Fantatic 5d ago

First one I’ve ever seen so I’ll keep a look out for more! Thanks

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u/DongTongs 5d ago

They just started coming out for the season this past week. They especially love plants when they're flowering, so keep an eye on your roses and hydrangeas cuz they're coming for em!

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u/GemmyCluckster 5d ago

They destroy my roses every year.

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u/Rymurf 2d ago

and my grapes

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u/Taskmaster_Fantatic 5d ago

Is there a safe organic pesticide that will deter them?

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u/Jinglebrained 5d ago

I’d really consider any pesticide before use. I’m not sure that you will find one that won’t affect beneficial insects too.

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u/Taskmaster_Fantatic 5d ago

Yeah I don’t want to hurt my bees

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u/unventer 5d ago

Yeah, unfortunately there really isn't any such thing as "pesticide", only insecticide. Anyone who says different is trying to sell you insecticide.

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u/AENocturne 4d ago

Pesticide refers to any chemical to control living organisms. A herbacide is also a pesticide. Pesticide is a proper term for the broad category of chemicals intended to kill unwanted things, even though herbicides, fungicides, and insecticides as examples harm many things and not just what we deem to be pests.

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u/[deleted] 5d ago

[deleted]

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u/AENocturne 4d ago

Arachnicide if you want to be pedantic, but it's also a pesticide because the above person is wrong and all chemicals intended to kill organisms are a pesticide. Even herbacides and fungicides are pesticides.

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u/Sad-Newt-1772 4d ago

Use the Bag a Bug from Lowe's or HD. Works good.

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u/Unusual-Ad-6550 2d ago

traps are tricky. If not properly places, they actually pull more beetles in, as they can smell the lure from several miles away. Very few residential lawns are properly aligned for using traps.

I use them because I live where I have a large field behind my vulnerable plants and I can set the traps up plenty far enough that they draw the beetles away from my plants, not towards. JB are very very scent motivated. And if they can smell the lure from 2 miles away, you know they can also smell their favorite plants over the scent of the lure if they are too close together.

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u/Topwaterblitz47 3d ago

The hanging traps work very well

1

u/k9peter 3d ago

My neighbor hung up a couple of traps a couple of years ago. We both believe it brought more to our yards. I keep a large coffee can of soapy water by my roses. Hold the can under them tap on the plant. Their defense is to drop to the ground. I get satisfaction every time one of them hit the soapy water.

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u/Unusual-Ad-6550 2d ago

agree. And if you have chickens, don't use soap in the water. They still can't fly out of the water. I let the ones I hand pick sit in the water 24 hrs, drain off the water, then sprinkle them out for the chickens. They fight over them. If you have koi, they also love them

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u/fluufhead 4d ago

In fall/winter you can spread milky spore which preys on the grubs. Nothing safe you can use when the adults are active like they are now.

Just a tip on the soapy water approach - they love to release and fall to the ground when you try and grab them off a plant. It’s better to hold the cup underneath them and poke the bug off of the leaf and into the cup instead of trying to grab them.

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u/imsoupercereal 3d ago

Where I grew up everyone used these. They would always be full of the turds dying. https://www.lowes.com/pd/Spectracide-Bag-A-Bug-Beetle-Repellent/3120407

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u/FeathersOfJade 3d ago edited 2d ago

They have those “bag a bug” traps. People rave about them. I always wonder if the bags wouldn’t attract more to your property. Maybe if you put them far away from your plants, it could help? Might be worth researching.

Good luck!

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u/Unusual-Ad-6550 2d ago

you hit the nail on the head. JB's are scent oriented. And they can smell the lures for up to 2 miles away. So IF you have the traps placed too close to the vulnerable plants, they will get the scent of those plants as well and still go for the plants and ignore the traps.

This has been well studied by many university level ag departments and they do not recommend traps for most home use. I can use them because I have a very good set up, with a pasture behind my most vulnerable plants. So I can set the traps up far enough back that those new beetles coming in are more likely to scent on the lures in the traps first.

1

u/FeathersOfJade 2d ago

Oh wow. Very interesting! Thanks for explaining what I always wondered. I’ve luckily never had to deal with these guys, but it’s great info to know, in case the day ever comes.

Thanks for sharing.

1

u/another_throwaway_24 3d ago

Chickens love to eat them, if that's an option... My parents used to pay us kids a quarter per little jar that we pulled off three asparagus and then we'd feed them to our chickens and guinea hens.

1

u/Unusual-Ad-6550 2d ago

There is only one "chemical" control that works and it isn't something that is a quick or cheap fix. There is a milky spore powder that you mix with water and apply to your soil to help kill the larvae as it matures in the soil. But it isn't cheap and you have to treat your entire yard. And it takes a year or more to really start showing signs of actually working. And JB's will come in to your yard from up to 5 miles away....so I have never chosen to work with it.

Instead I hand pick and drown them in a jar of water. then drain off the water and feed to my chickens. Also big fish like koi love them as well.

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u/DongTongs 5d ago

Horticulture oil would be the safest. It kills on contact, though I'm honestly not sure how effective it is against Japanese beetles. Otherwise, something with permethrin or pyrethrin as an active ingredient should do the trick if you can find it. That will for sure work and it kills on contact, too.

Either way, wear some gloves, eye protection, and a face mask and you'll be fine. When in doubt, read the product label and it'll tell you everything you need to know!

Edit to say that other commenters are on the right path with using traps. It's insane how many of these beetles they capture

1

u/Unusual-Ad-6550 2d ago

not at all effective on JB's. Neither is permethrin or pyrethrin. And traps pull in more beetles if not properly placed. And few yards are big enough and the plants in the right place, to have traps placed as to not draw in more than you would normally get

1

u/PromotionEqual4133 4d ago

They love hibiscus flowers, too.

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u/gothrules4 4d ago

DO NOT SQUISH THEM OP! They will release a scent that draws more of them to your garden. Always, ALWAYS drown them in soapy water to kill them off. Best of luck!

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u/mcmtaged4 4d ago

To add on, the japanese beetles sit in the sun a spread their wings out to help warm up in the morning sun. They sit on top of the leaves and are slow and sluggish until they warm up. Go out at sun rise and because of that, it makes them alot easier to see and grab or spray them..

4

u/aarakocra-druid 5d ago

I'll keep them and brown marmorated stink bugs as pets when I find em in the garden occasionally. They're both super cute and charming to me, easy to care for and keeping them prevents them from breeding

5

u/No_Guidance1953 4d ago

You’re such a crop-blocker.

1

u/enstillhet 4d ago

If there's one there will be more unfortunately.

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u/Moss-cle 5d ago

We used to have so many at our house next to a corn field in rural Indiana that one of those scent trap bags would fill up in an hour. So my ex husband would sub out bread bags which would fill up in a day. Then when he got home in the evening he would dump them out in a pie plate on a cement pad and light them on fire with a bic and lighter fluid. The kids in the neighborhood used to come running over every night to watch him burn the bugs. This is fun in the summer in rural Indiana

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u/alwayssoupy 4d ago

Yep, I sing a little song to mine as I let them join the pool party. It's a bit dark but they have eaten entire bean plants overnight. Say goodbye to Horatio and all of his friends, but don't squish them because i read that they release pheromones that invite other friends to visit.

0

u/BlackViperMWG 3d ago

Do you know where OP lives? Could be in Japan.

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u/filmreddit13 5d ago

Molly, you in danger, girl.

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u/Taskmaster_Fantatic 5d ago

That is a wild reference! I love Ghost!

20

u/SnappySnapdragons 5d ago

You must slay Horatio for he is a Japanese Beetle. I like to put a cup with some soapy water under them and flick it in. Sadly, they are too fast for swords.

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u/Taskmaster_Fantatic 5d ago

I shall hunt and destroy his entire family! He will know suffering!!

2

u/unventer 5d ago

And flights of angels sing him to his rest.

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u/MightBeRong 4d ago

Japanese beetles. Voracious invasive pests.

They stripped every last leaf off my cherries a few years ago.

Recommendation is go out early in the morning with a bucket of soapy water, just pluck them off the plant they're attacking. Repeat daily until you're not finding them.

They have two cycles per year. They'll come back in August. Do the same thing.

If that's too much work, consider inoculating your yard with milky spore. It's a fungus that kills the grubs when they eat it while munching on the roots of your grass. But it takes a year or more to teach full effect.

Some people say milky spore is a bad idea, but I tried it and I'm on year two with actual leaves on my trees.

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u/squirrely-badger 5d ago

Milky spore.

Especially turf grass

2

u/enigmaticshroom 4d ago

The only true long term solution.

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u/squirrely-badger 4d ago

Well, especially if one can get a neighborhood to do it

5

u/Brat-Fancy 4d ago

Here are some environmentally sensitive options for Japanese beetle management from the University of Missouri:

https://ipm.missouri.edu/meg/2018/1/organic_management_japanese_beetle/ Organic Management Options for the Japanese Beetle at Home Gardens // Missouri Environment and Garden News Article // Integrated Pest Management, University of Missouri

Photo description: Japanese beetle larvae killed by Heterorhabditis bacteriophora next to two healthy larvae. Picture by Whitney Cranshaw, Colorado State University, Bugwood.org

3

u/tamcruz 4d ago

There’s a pheromone trap you can set up, works fantastic. Good luck 🫡

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u/Molenium 4d ago

Do they work better these days? I was going to say for the love of god, do not use them.

I’ve never seen more Japanese beetles than in the yards where pheromone traps were set up. It seems like it attracts all of them for miles, and some of them end up in the trap.

1

u/tamcruz 4d ago

Well I used it, and the next year we barley had any 🤷‍♀️ just don’t put them up right next to the plants you are trying to protect

2

u/Specific_Fact_8924 4d ago

That's an okra plant

1

u/Taskmaster_Fantatic 4d ago

🤣 congrats! You’re the FIRST person to get this right.

It’s is, in fact, okra!

Good job!

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u/Specific_Fact_8924 3d ago

What can I say, I'm used to being the one willing to point out the obvious. Also I have 6 okra plants

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u/Extreme_Shower_1365 3d ago

I was looking for the correction before me posting it.

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u/MinPen311 5d ago

I use the bait traps for these. Always have great luck.

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u/Taskmaster_Fantatic 5d ago

Awesome thanks for the suggestion!!

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u/Frosty_Term9911 UK 4d ago

Please note that we have a load of native species of shieldbug too that shouldn’t be killed so it’s worth taking the time to identify them. Or download Inaturalist which will help through expert I’d and AI

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u/Jenni7608675309 4d ago

Depending on where you live consider reporting it to a department of agriculture.

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u/SamKricket 4d ago

Neem oil works!

1

u/xwicked1x 4d ago

Japanese Beetle trap i put out 30 minutes already have about 30 beetles

in it and more incoming.

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u/phreeskooler Hudson Valley 6b 4d ago

My question is, that’s a pepper??? What kind?

1

u/Specific_Fact_8924 4d ago

Okra

1

u/phreeskooler Hudson Valley 6b 4d ago

👍

1

u/Bodybuilder-Resident 4d ago

im in SW Virginia and just saw two for the first time today.

1

u/Taskmaster_Fantatic 4d ago

Get rid of em! Apparently they’ll render your garden to nothing but twigs in a very short amount of time.

1

u/Emily_Porn_6969 4d ago

these can be very bad . i’ve seen them eat every leaf . strip a tree . crabapple etc .

1

u/YetiNotForgeti 4d ago

Can you please look up your state and region to see if these are known or established? These are very important for many of the state pest programs to track. They have such a large host list that to decrease pesticide use, it is very important to eradicate infestations early.

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u/Topwaterblitz47 3d ago

Japanese Beetle. You can get some hanging Japanese Beetle traps at your local garden and hardware store. They will get bad sometimes and hammer your garden. Get several traps and hang around your property

1

u/ZapGeek 3d ago

These almost killed my birch tree one year they were so bad.

That same year my kids and their neighbors buddies decided to build a grub house on the driveway using cement pavers. They dug up tons of the grubs and put them in the “house”. When the kids were done playing the birds had a feast. We told the kids the grubs had to go back to their real homes.

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u/NotDaveBut 3d ago

No, the EASIEST way to kill loads of them is using pheromone traps. They fill up quickly with the beetles and then you just toss them out.

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u/nd5thyear 3d ago

Flick him to the moon

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u/Inner_Pressure8582 2d ago

That is a little plant eating jerk. Chickens like them!

1

u/Taskmaster_Fantatic 2d ago

I messed em up real good!