Japanese beetles are showing up in corn, soybean and cotton. Of these cotton is their least favorite. These showy beetles often hang out in groups and draw a lot of attention. Fortunately, they rarely cause yield loss in field crops. The beetles will feed on leaves, flowers and corn silks. Japanese beetles have a wide host range which includes many ornamental plants. They were introduced into the northeast U.S. nearly 100 years ago and have been slowly spreading south and east ever since. They only have one generation per year, and the adults started emerging last week. Adults will continue to emerge for several more weeks and will persist into July. Larvae are white grubs that feed underground and are sometimes a pest of turfgrass. Continue reading
