At the end of June, the sun is shining, and you can finally enjoy the beautiful weather in your garden filled with flowers of a thousand colours... but only the skeleton of the leaves remains and everything has been devoured. The culprit: the Japanese beetle, a polyphagous beetle that feeds on more than 300 species of ornamental plants, perennials, trees, shrubs and annual flowers.

The Japanese beetle can be distinguished from other beetles of the same family, such as the common chafer or the European chafer, by its colour: the thorax, abdomen and head of this insect are metallic green.

In this article, you'll learn how to get rid of Japanese beetles by using Ortho® Beetle B Gon Max™ Beetle Killer.Japanese Beetles as Grubs

Japanese Beetles are born as grubs and are known for eating grass at the roots which in turn, leaves patches of dead grass on your lawn. Grubs are born and bred 8cm beneath the grass turf surface and spend the winter season continuing through its growth cycle. They then turn into adult Japanese beetles by the summertime.

Should grubs attack your lawn, it is likely that you may have to redo your entire lawn at great expense to get rid of the grub problem.

How to Recognize a Japanese Beetle Infestation

At the beginning of summer, when temperatures range between 21ºC and 35ºC, the adult beetles emerge from the ground to feed and reproduce. It is at this time that they can be seen flying, often by the dozens, in the direction of light sources that attract them. If you see them busy in your trees, shrubs or flower beds, you can consider that you have an infestation and that it is better to act quickly.

Recognizing a grub infestation before seeing a fully blown-out Japanese beetle infestation is also a proactive approach to preventing infestations in general. In the late summer season, dig 8cm deep into the turf of your grass to see if any grubs exist.

Ortho Beetle B Gon Max Contents

Ortho® Beetle B Gon Max™ Beetle Killer contains naturally occurring soil microorganisms called Bacillus thuringiensis ssp. galleriae that effectively controls several beetle species including the Japanese beetle, Asian garden beetle, Oriental beetle and rose beetle. After beetles ingest the leaves or roots treated with Ortho® Beetle B Gon Max™ Beetle Killer, the targeted insects stop feeding and die within a few days.

Effectiveness of Ortho® Beetle B Gon Max™ Beetle Killer

When mixed with water, Ortho® Beetle B Gon Max™ Beetle Killer is released into the soil and reaches where the grubs and beetles can be found. Adding this product to your lawn forces the beetles to consume the formula as they continue to eat the foliage and the soil that the product is now integrated into.

One 150g bottle of Ortho® Beetle B Gon Max™ Beetle Killer can cover up to 100 square metres of lawn coverage when mixed with water and can rid of the Japanese beetles before they fully emerge in June & July. To maximize its effectiveness, this product is not to be used in windy or gusty weather conditions to ensure that the product enriches itself into the soil of your lawn.

Although one bottle should do the trick when effectively getting rid of all Japanese beetles, use Ortho® Beetle B Gon Max™ Beetle Killer again in August if you still see Japanese beetles in your yard.

Directions For Use

How To Use Ortho® Beetle B Gon Max™ Beetle Killer

The product can be used in two ways:

Foliar Application

• The best time to use the product is in June and July, when the adult beetles emerge from the ground and in August if they are still present. Multiple applications are often necessary, every week until the beetles disappear. To control the adults, the foliage of the affected plants should be thoroughly wetted while avoiding runoff.

Soil Application by Dipping

• The product is also effective in controlling beetle larvae in the soil. The objective is to eliminate the larvae before they cause damage to the foliage of your plants. Simply apply the product to the soil to penetrate the root zone of the plants to be protected. Application can be made as early as early June to kill the previous year's larvae, and again in mid-August for newly hatched larvae. An additional application in mid-September can also help prevent a new infestation the following spring.

This natural insecticide will keep your plants intact and allow you to enjoy the summer in the garden.

What other products might I need with Ortho® Beetle B Gon Max™ Beetle Killer?

If you are targeting grubs after getting rid of the adult Japanese beetles, Grub B Gon MAX® Grub Killer can be used to effectively remove grubs from eating the roots of your grass 8cm above the grass turf surface.