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Wow, that tree looks really bad, doesn't it? Hi, I'm Harold from Spring-Green Lawn Care,
and I'm here to talk to you today about Japanese Beetles – and the damage that they can cause.
As you can see from this Linden Tree, they have really eaten away at these leaves like
that. It's called "skeletonizing" because they feed
on all the tissue in between the veins, and you can see how the leaves almost look like
lace work – kind of pretty, in a way. Japanese Beetles are the adult stage of the grubs that
feed on your lawn. They are a copper-colored beetle that have
a row of spots of white tufts of hair on the back end. It's pretty easy to tell. They're
copper-colored, they have a hard shell on the back, and as you can see from this tree,
they're veracious feeders. They're always doing a lot of damage when they're active,
almost as much damage to the plant material as they do a lawn.
So what do you do if your tree has got this kind of damage to it? Well, there's really
not much you can do about it. At this point, the Japanese Beetle adults are done feeding,
so you're not going to find anything here to spray even if you did want to.
Is the tree going to be hurt? Probably not. It has produced enough carbohydrates already
this year that it's going to come back around next year. Although, it does have a tendency
to put the tree in a little bit more weaker state. So, it is something you can treat for
earlier on in the year when you first start seeing the feeding. And, they actually start
at the top and work their way down. So, if you see this type of damage on your
shrubs or your trees – especially things like Lindens or roses – contact your neighborhood
lawn care professional at Spring-Green. Or, you can visit my Ask the Expert blog at www.Spring-Green.com.