How to Get Rid of Japanese Beetles

Last updated: November 2026

To get rid of Japanese beetles, hand-pick adults into soapy water every morning during the 6 to 8 weeks they are active, protect high-value plants with netting, and reduce next year's beetles by treating the lawn grubs in late summer.^1,6 Traps are usually a poor choice in home gardens because they draw in more beetles than they catch.^1,4 Below is a season plan for both stages of the pest.

How to recognize Japanese beetles

Adult Japanese beetles (Popillia japonica) are about 1 cm long, with a metallic green head and thorax, copper-brown wing covers, and five small tufts of white hairs along each side of the abdomen.^1,2 They feed in groups on the upper side of leaves, eating the tissue between the veins and leaving a lace-like skeleton.^1,3 Favorite hosts include roses, grapes, linden, basil, raspberries, beans and fruit trees.^1,2,3

The larvae are C-shaped white grubs that live in lawns and pastures and feed on grass roots.² Heavy grub feeding causes brown patches of turf that lift like a carpet.^1,3 Our Japanese beetle profile and lawn grub guide have photos of both stages.

The yearly cycle

In most of the US there is one generation a year.^3,6 In cooler regions part of the population can take two years to complete the cycle.⁷

Controlling adult beetles

1. Hand-pick early. In the cool of the morning beetles are sluggish.¹ Hold a container of soapy water under the leaves and tap them in; they drop when disturbed.^1,2 Daily picking also reduces the scent signals that attract more beetles.^1,2
2. Cover what matters most. Fine netting over roses, grapes or berry bushes keeps beetles off during peak weeks.^1,3 Remove it on crops that need bees for pollination while they are in flower.
3. Spray only hot spots. Contact products such as pyrethrin or neem-based sprays reduce feeding for a few days.¹ Apply in the evening, when bees are not foraging, and never on open flowers.^2,3 Strains of Bacillus thuringiensis that target beetles (subspecies galleriae) are an option for leaf feeders.^2,3
4. Choose less attractive plants for new plantings. Lilac, boxwood, dogwood, hydrangea and most conifers are rarely damaged.^3,4

Do Japanese beetle traps work?

Traps use a floral lure and a sex pheromone, and they catch a lot of beetles.^1,4 The problem is that they attract beetles from a wide area, and many land on nearby plants instead of the trap.¹ University trials found more damage on plants close to traps than on plants farther away.^1,2 If you use one, place it at least 15 m (50 ft) downwind of the plants you want to protect, or use traps only as a monitoring tool.^2,6

Controlling the grubs

Every beetle starts as a lawn grub, so turf is where you cut next year's numbers.¹ Options:

• Beneficial nematodes (Heterorhabditis bacteriophora) enter grubs and develop inside them.⁵ Apply in late summer when grubs are young and near the surface, into moist soil, in the evening, and keep the lawn watered for two weeks.^5,6
• Milky spore (Paenibacillus popilliae) builds up in the soil over several years.⁶ Results are slow and vary by climate, and it affects Japanese beetle grubs only.^2,5
• Healthy turf. Mowing at 7 to 8 cm (3 in) and avoiding heavy summer watering makes lawns less attractive for egg laying.^2,3

Grub control on one lawn will not stop adults flying in from neighbors, but over two or three seasons it lowers the local population.^1,3

An invasive pest beyond the US

Japanese beetle is native to Japan, where natural enemies keep it in check.¹ It reached the US in 1916 and has since spread through most states east of the Rockies.^1,7 In Europe it was found in northern Italy in 2014 and in southern Switzerland in 2017, and it is listed as a priority pest in the European Union.^7,8 Growers in affected areas should report new finds to the local plant protection service.