Over ths past week, thousands of adult Japanese Beetles have appeared on the golf course. Some of these emerged from the ground right here on the course, and some flew in from other areas. As I drove out to the course two mornings ago, one flew right into my lip. I lucked out and didn't swallow it.
These are true pests to golf courses and need to be controlled when they reach large populations. They can damage leaves on trees and shrubs by chewing on them, leaving a skeletonized look to the leaves. They also love to deposit their eggs into turfgrass, where in a very short time, the eggs turn into grubs which chew on the roots of the grass.
We started seeing more of them two years ago, and in 2010 their populations grew to the point where we had to make applications of insecticide to protect our plants. We made a preventative application on all greens several weeks ago, which should give us good residual activity. An application to tees and fairways will be made in the latter part of July, targeting the very young grub stage of the insect. We will also be making an application to some of the trees on the course where we see large numbers of them. They especially like to chew on elm, linden, apple, and some Maple trees, and also reside in many evergreens such as white pine.
You'll see them on the course right now in clumps, especially on fairways. They are mating, and the female will lay up to 60 eggs in one season in several locations. It's best to target reducing the very young grubs which result from the egg hatch which normally happens in late July. They are identified by their metallic colored overcoat, of which is green around the head and a golden brown on the rear. They do not bite, but try not to swallow any, I don't think that would be any fun!
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