Latest news with #JapaneseBeetle
Global News
22-07-2025
- General
- Global News
Nova Scotia gardeners, homeowners endure Japanese beetle infestations
There's something bugging homeowners and gardeners across Nova Scotia this month, and it's not ticks. The Japanese beetle population has grown in recent years – decimating flowers and foliage all over Canada. Joanne Fancy says the pests have surrounded her Halifax-area property and are preying on her willow, maple and birch trees, as well as bordering vegetation. She's spent some $1,200 trying to get rid of them, including the use of professional extermination services. 'I'm not going to say kill, but they destroy the look of the landscaping. It's disheartening,' she said of the invasive beetles. View image in full screen A pair of Japanese beetles skeletonize a raspberry leaf, with many other leaves already damaged. Sharon Pfeifer / Global News Fancy isn't alone. Experts have been swarmed with questions from concerned landowners across the province. Story continues below advertisement 'This time of year, my phone is ringing off the hook. Every year it seems to be worse and worse,' said Paul Manning, an environmental sciences professor at Dalhousie University. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Many people have turned to Japanese Beetle traps. But local gardening expert, Niki Jabbour, says they have to be used properly or they could just add to the pest problems. 'Anybody who's got a trap in their yard will tell you it's full of Japanese beetles. But only about, you know, 75 per cent of the beetles will go in it,' she said. 'So you'll be attracting more beetles to your yard, but not trapping all of them.' 1:55 Vancouver takes on destructive Japanese Beetle If you do plan on using a trap, she recommends placing it as far away from your garden as possible. Story continues below advertisement 'The problem with these buckets or traps is that beetles are relatively clumsy fliers. So they can be attracted from a long way in, based on the smell,' added Manning. 'They can fly in, hit the bucket and then bounce out and end up feeding on something totally different.' Manning and Jabbour both say there's no need to shell out on expensive solutions. 'Something that doesn't involve buying anything that does help impact the overall population, is handpicking. So put on a pair of garden gloves, take a bucket of soapy water, you can add a little dash of vegetable oil to it as well,' said Jabbour. 'Grab (the bugs) with your gloved hand and throw them into the bucket of soapy water.' Manning adds it's a 'pretty humane way of killing them.' 'If you can do that once a day at around 5 to 7 (p.m.), that's something you can do to give your tree a fighting chance,' he said. — with a file from Rebecca Lau
Japan Times
09-07-2025
- Japan Times
France worries about Japanese beetles after finding two
The Japanese beetle, an aggressively invasive insect species, has been detected for the first time in France, authorities in the east of the country said Tuesday. Two specimens were captured in traps on July 1 and 2 in the eastern cities of Mulhouse and Saint-Hippolyte, close to France's borders with Germany and Switzerland, they said. The two beetles probably came to France aboard a truck, train or car, the Grand-Est regional authorities said, a phenomenon known as "hitch-hiking." The insects, native to Japan, have been detected in Italy since 2014 and in Switzerland since 2017. Last year, a Japanese beetle infestation was discovered in Basel, Switzerland, a city close to the sites of the recent French finds. Japanese beetles pose a threat to more than 400 species of plants, according to the French health security agency Anses, which had warned since 2022 that the beetle could make it into France. The insects threaten plum trees, apple trees, vines, corn, soy, green beans and asparagus, among other cultivated plants, as well as trees and ornamental plants such as roses. The Grand-Est prefecture said that it had ordered increased surveillance of insect traps, as well as visual checks, to make sure that no other Japanese beetles were present. It also called on the public to report any sightings of the beetles. The European Union in 2019 designated the Japanese beetle as one of 20 harmful organisms that it said member states should destroy to prevent their spreading which it said could cause billions of euros of damage.
CBC
10-06-2025
- General
- CBC
Beware the Japanese beetle: N.L. prepared to fight off invasive insect, says researcher
The Newfoundland and Labrador government is in planning mode in case it needs to contain a mean, green plant-killing machine. It's called the Japanese beetle. The invasive insect is one centimetre in length and has a green metallic head at the mature stage. Its distinct feature is five white tufts of hair on either side of its back. While it may look pretty, it can leave agricultural destruction in its wake. The Japanese beetle eats about 300 plant species, including blueberries, partridge berries and its trees. It can also damage greenery and even golf courses, says Sabrina Ellsworth, director of agriculture research and production for the Department of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture. "[It] can be devastating and detrimental to those sectors that we rely on economically," she told CBC Radio's The St. John's Morning Show. The bugs originally came to Canada on a ferry from Maine in the United States to Nova Scotia in the 1930s. Ellsworth says they've been spotted in Newfoundland and Labrador off and on in the last 10 years. Ellsworth says it's presence in the province is a concern now because there are signs the beetles are "overwintering." Milder winters and less snow mean the larva have a better chance of living through those typical cold months, and in turn more adults emerge in spring and summer. Japanese beetle eggs are problematic in particular, she says. Females can lay up to 60 eggs every year, and those eggs can blow around in the wind — that makes for a swift insect takeover. "If this pest gets in their gardens, it's going to devastate everything that's there," said Ellsworth. British Columbia is actively trying to ward off its Japanese beetle population, so Newfoundland and Labrador is taking pointers in case the bugs make their way east, said the researcher. An eradication plan would include putting traps and restricting plant and soil movement in target areas, says Ellsworth. The Department of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture is also considering spraying larvicide if it comes down to it. "We're very hopeful that if we act now, we can get a handle on it and it won't become an infestation," said Ellsworth. She advises people to capture any Japanese beetles in a jar and to call the Canadian Food Inspection Agency right away. Sightings can also be photographed and sent to the agency virtually through iNaturalist.
