Should I use a Bag a Bug Trap?

Many people use Bag-a-Bug traps to catch Japanese Beetles. Do they work? Should I use them in my landscape? When should I use a trap? These are common questions I get from customers and here is a quick breakdown of my opinion and experience with them. First, they do catch and kill Japanese beetles; however, you are only catching a small percentage of what you are attracting to your landscape and often the beetle lays its eggs in your lawn before they enter the bag. If your landscape is not attracting a lot of beetles do not use these bags because you are going to give them a reason to come into your landscape. The Japanese beetle lays its eggs in the grass so if you decide to use these bags be certain to use them on the perimeter of your landscape and away from desirable plants. Personally, I believe they should only be used along with a preventative treatment of grub control to be certain you are controlling both the adult stage and larvae stage of the Japanese Beetle. Simply because you caught a lot of Beetles in July does not mean you will not have grubs and damage to the lawn in September. I have seen a lot of grub damage in lawns where people have used these traps.

Look out for the Japanese Beetle

Today, I noticed some Japanese beetles on my rose plants and crape myrtle trees. As these beetles feed on your landscape plants they will lay eggs in your turf and in August, September and October the larvae will feed on the roots of your turf causing considerable damage to your lawn. The best way to protect your lawn if you have Japanese beetles or have had grubs in the past years is by applying a systemic insect control now as a preventative.