Home |
Search |
Today's Posts |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Are we breeding smarter Japanese beetles?
We had our first major beetle infestation last summer, and my wife and I
spent many enjoyable evenings picking them off the shrubs and dropping them into a jar of soapy water. We noticed that they had only 2 defense moves; one was to raise their back legs when alarmed, and the other was to simply drop off the leaf they were currently munching on. They would almost never fly away. This made them darned easy to catch. This year, more and more of them are actually flying off when approached. Are we accidentally selecting for this undesirable behavior? On the other hand, we've found that imidacloprid is actually effective in protecting our shrub roses and dwarf crab apple tree. Our untreated sand cherries are being chewed to shreds. -- St. Paul, MN |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
Are we breeding smarter Japanese beetles?
In
Billy wrote: ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS Thank you for your pointless restating of the obvious. -- St. Paul, MN |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
Are we breeding smarter Japanese beetles?
On 01 Jul 2012 16:01:25 GMT, Bert wrote:
This year, more and more of them are actually flying off when approached. Are we accidentally selecting for this undesirable behavior? Yes, it's quite possible to select animal behaviors by breeding. It's also possible that sub-lethal doses of imidocloprid could be influencing their behaviors, also. Kay |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
Are we breeding smarter Japanese beetles?
"Bert" wrote in message . .. We had our first major beetle infestation last summer, and my wife and I spent many enjoyable evenings picking them off the shrubs and dropping them into a jar of soapy water. We noticed that they had only 2 defense moves; one was to raise their back legs when alarmed, and the other was to simply drop off the leaf they were currently munching on. They would almost never fly away. This made them darned easy to catch. This year, more and more of them are actually flying off when approached. Are we accidentally selecting for this undesirable behavior? On the other hand, we've found that imidacloprid is actually effective in protecting our shrub roses and dwarf crab apple tree. Our untreated sand cherries are being chewed to shreds. -- St. Paul, MN Here next door in Wi. ours always flew, so I don't know what kind you're breeding over there. I will say temperature affected their flying. Hotter=more flying, colder=less. Now all that said I've had to kill exactly 4 of them this year versus about 4000 the last couple years. Used no chemicals. I attribute it to the totally weird and inside out weather. Maybe they went the way of the cherry and maple syrup crops this spring. |
Reply |
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Forum | |||
japanese beetles, selecting for smarter jbs, etc. | Edible Gardening | |||
Your Bulbs May Be Smarter Than You When It Comes To Planting | Gardening | |||
I hate Japanese beetles | Roses | |||
Japanese Beetles... | Gardening |