Thursday, January 19, 2023

Japanese beetle eradication plans underway, consent forms hit mailboxes this week

Grandview was crawling with activity this summer when Japanese beetle adult flight season was in full force. If you don’t already know, we’ve seen a quickly growing infestation of the pest in the area, and this year we started our three-pronged approach to getting rid of this pest and protecting our ag industry from another threat to its vitality. One of those three prongs includes treatment.

That’s where you, residents in the infestation areas, come in.

Treatment

Consent forms should be hitting mailboxes any day. You’ll see a letter from us asking for your permission to treat your property with insecticide. This treatment will be free of charge and we need everyone to join in the effort to help us get rid of this pest before the population becomes too big to control.

If you think you’re in a treatment zone but didn’t get a letter, check your address on our map to see if you qualify for a free treatment. This is one of those efforts that will truly “take a village.”

Trapping

In 2022 we set 3,050 traps, hoping to gauge how many and how far spread out they are, and taking as many beetles out of commission as possible.  That will be one of the efforts we continue on this year too. In 2022, we caught more than 23,000 beetles, that’s less than we captured in 2021. While the numbers were indeed down, the population still spread in acreage. That’s what brings us to our third prong: quarantine.

Quarantine

Limiting what the beetles can ride around on will also be key in keeping the infestation where it is. As we saw from one year to the next, the population of the beetles didn’t grow much, largely due to the efforts of our eradication team and community support, but they did spread out further. That’s why the current quarantine was expanded by emergency rule a few weeks ago.

Residents must also follow the quarantine to prevent spreading the beetles by not moving items known to transport beetles outside of the quarantine area.

To limit the need to move yard debris and other plant material outside the quarantine area, WSDA has established a drop-off site available during the adult flight season, May to October. Businesses and residents can take all accepted items to the Japanese Beetle Response Yard Debris Drop-Off at 875 Bridgeview Rd., Grandview, WA 98930. There is no charge for disposal. Proof of address within the quarantine area is required.

Those moving out of the quarantine area will not be able to take any of the regulated items with them.

Background

In 2020, WSDA first discovered just three Japanese beetles in the Grandview area. Last year the department trapped more than 24,000 beetles. In 2022, teams have caught 23,000 beetles. Japanese beetles are highly invasive pests of more than 300 plants, including roses, grapes, and hops. The adult beetles damage plants by skeletonizing the foliage. Adults also feed on buds, flowers, and fruit on the plants and are frequently intercepted with air cargo from the Eastern U.S. 

The invasive species is not native to Washington state, and has no natural predator to keep it’s population in check. If it becomes established here, agriculture will have a more difficult and expensive task at hand.

Help us spread the word and get rid of these pests!