What good are June bugs?

I walk out at night to take my dog out and get dive bombed and they are dead everywhere. They are in my rain water buckets, garage everywhere. How can I organically get rid of them or atleast 1/2 or more of them.
YUCK!!!

As far as I can tell they have no good qualities. A couple of nights ago, I was trying to sit on the patio and they kept flying into my hair. Double yuck. Here is a link with lots of information. They are one stage of the white grub. There are chemical treatments, such as Grubex, but unless your whole neighborhood treats, you probably won't make much headway except to lessen the damage to your lawn. Search for organic treatments for white grubs. Several brands pop up.

https://insects.tamu.edu/extension/publications/html/e211.html

One word: chickens. :)

Bait!

I want to get some chickens but live in a subdivision. I think if I keep them penned up maybe I could get away with it. :) Don't fish but could give to my neighbors. You mean using the grub for bait right?

I have seen chickens refuse to eat them. Fish will eat grasshoppers, but not Junebugs.And they stink when they pile up to the lites to die. They love most to crawl out from under the oak trees where you will find them thickest in the soil.

I mean the grub or the bug...don't know if I could bait that hook. Lol

Best fishin bait is the cats from a catalpa bean tree when they show up... dont even think fish hit on a grub. No problem baiting that hook if you think REAL hard on the damages bugs do to your best plants....

One of the best ways to control them is to apply beneficial nematodes to your yard. However, if you apply chemicals to your yard, the nematodes will be killed. The nematodes find the grubs and kill them before they reach maturity and become June bugs. I've also heard that you can hang a bucket filled with a bit of soapy water in it. Hang a light over the bucket and turn it on at night. They'll flock to the light, land in the soapy water and drown. Of course, then you have to deal with dead June bugs.

Not me David would have to deal with the dead June bugs :)

A friend here in town has a 'pet' goose. He can't get her to go in at night when it is June Bug season. She stays under the night light and street lights feasting on them. When he called Goosey a pet, he could get away with keeping her in town and he keeps her on his own property.

Mmmm that's a thought :)

chicken feed.

Hmm chickens are becoming more and more appealing all the time..

I would use the grubs for bait, but I can never find them, don't wanna dig up my lawn just for bait! Lol! And Kitt is right, the fish do hit grasshoppers, I catch a few at a time, so I have enough for a few casts. I've caught bass and sunfish this way. People laugh until they see it works!

Trouble with chickens and lawns is that initially they aerate and fertilize, but when our drought and heat come along the lawn dies back pretty heavily and St augustine will die. My bermuda out back is returning now, and it is weed free courtesy of the birds occasional dining adventures

Are they called June bugs down here in Texas? I thought we only called them that back in Iowa -- where they come out in June... not APRIL. Yuck, I hate them too.

mine aren't out yet, I think they are temperature bugs and don't read the calendar. They usually turn up in May here

Yup thats one of the names we call em. Poison bags list them as Japanese Beetles, but we call em June bugs after they hit the air. They DO prefer ground under the oaks...

In Pennsylvania this is a Japanese beetle http://www.swagbucks.com/?t=i&p=1&b=0&f=0&sef=1&q=japenese+beetles

I have always called them June bugs....I wish I could call them dead-in-the-ground bugs that they dies before I ever see them bugs :) My doxie eats them and that grosses me out. The older I get the weaker my stomach gets. Just let her out and she found something nasty and I almost lost all my insides .....need to get her a muzzle ewwww

I have seen true japanese beetles decimate roses, and june bugs aren't them.

Me too and they love peonies :(

That's why they have the old saying - "like ducks on a June bug." My favorite with the grubs when I'm digging the beds, etc., is to put them in a dry water tray and wait for the Mockingbirds to feast on them.

Had a resident Mockingbird for many years. Called her Girlfriend. I was digging a lot on new beds back then. She learned quickly that when I was digging she would wait around for the grubs. Or I would whistle and she'd come flying over. She would land on my glove and eat them out of my hand, or bravely land right next to me on the tray and feast. Her limit was 5-6 per meal, so I would throw some dirt on the rest for later or the next day.

How cool!

That is very cool!

That is so awesome. I don't dig many new areas and just dug up my compost area to make a garden. I saw lots of huge earth worms but no grubs. When I find them anywhere I throw them out into the street. They don't have a chance to survive.

I have lots of snails and I throw them really hard against the sidewalk. They are easy to find after a rain as they crawl up to the tops of plants and I pick them off. It is the Huge grasshoppers that cause so much damage every year. I must have brought them home as I have not always had them. The huge Black and red and the multicolor ones. Grrrr

Sprinkling the garden around 10 am produces an abundance of birds who also snack on grasshoppers while having their shower. That is my organic grasshopper control method.

Sounds great. Thanks!

I applied the beneficial nematodes for a couple of seasons to my veggie garden and it definitely helped control those GROSS white REPULSIVE grubs!! I bought them at Nelson's Water Gardens. They were a bit expensive but it worked :) Janet

nematodes work on fireants and help with chiggers too

Gypsi I am so trying that for the birds! Lol

Nematodes are amazing! There is a special strain of nematodes that treat termites. We've used them successfully on an old tree stump in our yard where the termites were invading our sunroom. Garden nematodes treat a variety of soil-borne pests such as fleas, ticks, roaches, chiggers, and fire ants.

http://www.arbico-organics.com/category/beneficial-nematodes

Snails and slug problems.....get Sluggo Plus. Order in bulk, last for a long time on the shelf. Organic, safe non toxic way to eliminate them using iron phosphate. I have hundreds of hostas now, and years ago I couldn't grow marigolds they were so bad, wouldn't even thought of growing a hosta then. Nary a snail or slug to be found in my yard with regular treatments. The Plus version with Spinosad also helps controls earwigs and roly poly's.

You're right on target with Sluggo Plus. I love that stuff! Takes care of those pesky pill bugs, too.

Wow I have really learned alot posting this. Where is it you ored these things from

Any other grasshopper remedy's? The black and red are poison so from what I understand nothing eats them. I tried so kind of stuff (organic) and didn't seem to work

Nolo bait helps with grasshoppers. It only lasts for 13 weeks and you have to apply it now while the hoppers are young.

Call local organic nurseries and feed stores for the beneficial nematodes. Many cattle ranches and horse stables use them to control flies.

Does anyone know if beneficial nematodes harm earthworms? I've used them for years against ants, fleas and chiggers, and I do have some earthworms but maybe not as many as I should have. Then again, I do have some and we have a drought.

Earthworms are not insects, they have a heart and primitive circulatory system, while grubs are insects and lack those... So my guess has been nematodes are ok. And I am about to buy more soon

How long of a shelf life does Nolo Bait have?

Nematodes beneficial, do not hurt the good bugs http://www.buglogical.com/beneficialNematodes_control_soilDwellingPests/beneficialNematodes.asp

Nolo bait only has a shelf life of 13 weeks.

I order Sluggo Plus through a net search for the best price - usually buy it by the case (2 lb bottles) or 10-20 pound bags. Usually Ebay.

Will add a suggestion for rats and mice....... Just One Bite II (ag version). Between the drought and new home construction, had a Norwegian rat (the big ones) infestation around the house, attic and neighborhood in general. Bought a bulk box of bars last fall after giving up on the cheap stuff (green retail bars). Taken out about 30 that I disposed of.

Haven't seen any signs of rats in months.