Features Production Research
Geraniums could help control Japanese beetle

April 19, 2010 — Geraniums
may hold the key to controlling the devastating Japanese beetle, which feeds on
nearly 300 plant species and costs the ornamental plant industry $450 million
in damage each year, according to scientists with the Agricultural Research
Service (ARS).

April 19, 2010 — Geraniums
may hold the key to controlling the devastating Japanese beetle, which feeds on
nearly 300 plant species and costs the ornamental plant industry $450 million
in damage each year, according to scientists with the Agricultural Research
Service (ARS).

The beetle, Popillia
japonica Newman, can feast on a wide variety of plants, including ornamentals,
soybean, maize, fruits and vegetables. But within 30 minutes of consuming
geranium petals, the beetle rolls over on its back, its legs and antennae
slowly twitch, and it remains paralyzed for several hours. The beetles
typically recover within 24 hours when paralyzed under laboratory conditions,
but they often succumb to death under field conditions after predators spot and
devour the beetles while they are helpless.

Entomologist Chris Ranger
at the ARS’s Application Technology Research Unit in Wooster, OH, is working on
developing a way to use geraniums to control the beetles.