Japanese Beetles

It didn't take long to find Japanese Beetles (Popillia japonica) on our property this year. In fact, the Japanese Beetles found me. We've had a couple of years of low populations of Japanese Beetles, but they have returned in large numbers this year. As the name suggests, the Japanese Beetle is native to Japan. This insect was first found in the United States in 1916 in New Jersey and has spread to most of the Northeast states and continues to move west.



A couple of Japanese Beetles and an example of their leaf damage in the background.