The miracle of chemistry

[altivo]

Amazing. The Japanese beetle, Popillia japonica, is a serious pest in North America (for those who didn't know about it.) It's a large, handsome looking beetle that is native to east Asia and Japan, where it has natural enemies that keep its population stable and controlled. Once introduced to America, though, it ran wild. Few native species care

Comments

[jairus_greywolf]

No thank you I have plenty! I have a plum tree in the front yard that is currently under attack by those beetles. I haven't done anything so far mostly because I'm not overly fond of plums and I've always thought the tree was more of a nuisance.

[altivo]

Well, here's the deal. They gather and have a food and sex orgy on your plum tree, then lay thousands of eggs in your grass. Next year the eggs hatch into white grubs that eat grass roots, and you have spreading brown patches as the grass dies from having its roots chewed off. Then the raccoons sniff out the beetle larvae and come to feast. They peel the dying sod off to get at the grubs...

Of course, if you don't much care about how the grass looks (I'm not fussy myself, and I like raccoons actually unless they are stealing my duck eggs) then none of this matters much except to your neighbors who are trying to grow roses or something.

Actually, I'd say it's worth the $5 for a trap just to see the amazing results.

[vimsig]

bless you for thinking of us all but we must decline....

[altivo]

Me too. They might be tasty, who knows? But I'd rather eat that icon of yours. Mmmm, looks delicious.

I went out to pick blueberries after feeding the horses. I knew there were more ripe. There were so many that my container overflowed and I wasn't done. Have to go back again tomorrow...

[altivo]

Actually the floral scent is so strong than anyone with any sense of smell would notice it right away. The instant response I got was partly due to the wind conditions being just right to carry the scent from the trap to the grapevines where a horde of them were feasting just eight or ten feet away. Evidently there were a lot more down under the leaves where I hadn't noticed them.

[chibiabos]

I dunno, got any 'coon friends on your LJ list? :P

[altivo]

At least one: linnaeus.

[rustitobuck]

that just seems like such a cruel joke.

Hey, c'mere to the big sex orgy! Oh heh, did we say orgy, we meant die in a bag.

[altivo]

Well, I wouldn't do that to a wookiee. ;p

These beetle guys though, are illegal immigrants who choose to flaunt the law by stealing my fruits and vegetables. That gives me a certified legal right to do them in. For all I know, they're having a big orgy in that plastic back right now. They were certainly buzzing and squirming around in there. ;D

Just think of it as a sort of Nigerian scam. If they fall for it, they deserve what they get.