Utah city reduces treatment area but concern remains about Japanese beetles
4 Jun, 2010 By: Ron Hall Landscape ManagementOREM, UT – The 2010 Japanese beetle (JB) treatment program in this city of 85,000 people located about 45 miles south of Salt Lake City is to take place on June 9,and targets just 46 acres of lawn and open space there. This year’s 
program targets a much smaller treatment area following the discover of only five (5) male beetles last year. This represents a 95% reduction from the previous year. Highlights of the program include no restrictions on gardening and a lifting of restrictions to the Orem City Green Waste Disposal Program.
Other program highlights:
• Half as many acres to be treated compared with 2009.
• The products used this year again allows for gardens.
• No restrictions on the Orem Green Waste. (see more at:
• Professional lawn care experts will be used to apply the insecticide.
• 48-72 hour advance notice to residents of when treatment begins will be given to residents in the treatment area. This is to be done by door-to-door contact and/or written notices left at residence when personal contact is not possible.
• Treatment will consist of ground application only.
• Lawns, bare ground, and soils will be treated only once, on June 9th.
• Only spraying where we found beetles.
Since its introduction, the JB has swept throughout most of the United States east of the Mississippi. Because of the potential of artificial spread, the JB is a great menace to agriculture and flora of the Western United States. The JB is a highly ruinous plant pest causing both plant damage and increased control costs. Adults attack more than 300 species of plants. Numerous trees, ornamental shrubs & vines, fruits, flowers, vegetables, garden crops, weeds, and field crops could potentially be damaged. The grubs are serious pests of lawns, other grasses, and nursery 
stock. Because of the ease of shipping grubs with nursery stock & soil, this species could potentially be found about anywhere in the U.S. including Hawaii and Puerto Rico. Adults are highly mobile and frequently ‘hitch’ rides in airplanes and motor vehicles. The larvae are dispersed in transported soil and nursery inventory. JB control by biological methods or insecticides is often expensive due to the labor, equipment, and/or insecticides involved.
The positive finding of JB in Utah is of major concern. Protecting Utah’s healthy $150 million nursery and tree fruit economy, and the lawns and ornamentals of Orem’s residents is and should be a high priority. Doing so will involve a three pronged approach including: treatment of infested area, an expanded delimiting trapping program, and an expanded detection trapping program in high risk areas.
Eradicating the JB population is a preferred option, while population levels remain low and are confined to a small area. This can be accomplished by treating the infested turf with an insecticide (Merit). Utah Department of Agriculture and Food, Orem City, and Utah County officials have met regarding this goal and involved parties agree that eradication should be pursued. This is an ongoing process, and will most likely take 4-5 years to eradicate.
Delimiting trapping protocol will be expanded to comply with USDA/APHIS-PPQ Japanese Beetle Quarantine (JBQ). This is necessary to track the possible spread of JB populations surrounding the current affected area. An estimated total of 449 traps will be set in a 49 square mile area in and surrounding Orem.
Detection traps will be greatly expanded to 3,500 statewide. These will be placed in high-risk areas and in habitat suitable for JB propagation. These suitable areas have been determined by vegetation type and traps will be set at 2 per square mile consistent with JBQ. It will be necessary to trap over a number of years to adequately trap these areas.
Given these facts, UDAF will continue in its efforts to help residents protect their turf and ornamentals from this pest.
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