June Bug Orgies - by Jeff Abt

Are you one of those folks who likes to watch the “Nature” channel? You know, the network that specializes in shows about this or that animal or the life cycle of insects. When you think about it, these shows are all the same. The creatures in these shows are either killing and eating one another or going through the motions of reproduction. The natural world really is a sordid and gory affair. This spring I couldn’t help but notice that we have already had our first flight of June Beetles, in Texas called June Bugs or in other parts of the country, May Beetles. As a gardener I always notice these things. They can be horticulturally quite significant. But whether you are a gardener or not, the flight of June Bugs can be hard to miss. On summer nights they whack the screen of open windows with great force, trying to get towards the light. They congregate in huge assemblies under streetlights and around well-lit shopping malls and grocery stores. My wife has complained that on some mornings it sounds like rain pelting the windshield; there are so many.

The June Bug might make a very interesting “Nature” channel program. I can hear the announcer talking in subdued tones, describing how the male June Bug appears in the spring of the year almost “mad” to find a female partner. He would describe how the June Bugs are attracted to light and gather in great orgies under streetlights where they mate. The female June Bug then digs into the soil and lays her eggs. Ah, it is so typical, very much like salmon returning each year to spawn and then die. But with June Bugs the eggs hatch in the soil of my lawn and grubs or larvae appear, “white grubs.” They eat away at the roots of my lawn grass, sometimes causing considerable damage. There they live under the soil, going through various stages of growth and gorging themselves on my lawn, until they reappear the next year and congregate in the glow of my mercury vapor light with their mad, spring orgy,

Let me throw in here as an aside… I think insects are peculiarly immodest when it comes to their reproductive activities. Why do they come to the light and carry on so, gathering around the very public entrances to shopping malls and grocery stores at night? Then take the “Love Bugs” or “March Flies” who lollygag promiscuously about in great swarms throughout East Texas marring the paint on our automobiles as our cars slam into the paired off couples. Insect reproductive habits leave me coolly disgusted.

Back to the June Bugs and their larva in my lawn. The larva, the “white grub,” can do significant damage to turf grass. Depending on the entomologist you talk to, the eggs of the June Bug hatch somewhere around thirty days after the June Bug has its flight. The larva stage of the June Bug is when the most damage is done to the lawn. The grass almost seems to come up like carpet in your hand, having no root system to hold it to the earth. Some lawns never seem to be bothered by “white grubs,” and other continually have problems.

I talked to the fellows of Evergreen Lawn Care (Lee and Rick) about the “white grub” problems, and they said that most damage comes in August when the “white grub” is most active. Their company applies a chemical called Merit in May and June to control this problem, for the most part applying only spot treatments to lawns. They try to avoid treating entire lawns with insecticides unless it is absolutely necessary.

Lone Star Home and Farm Center sells a product called Grubex, which has the active ingredient of Halofenozide, a hormonal insecticide which keeps the grub from maturing. Both Grubex and Merit are effective chemical. If you are the do-it-yourself type, try applying Grubex with a fertilizer spreader. But if you want to leave insecticide application to the professionals, there are none better than the guys at Evergreen Lawn Care.

One way or another, I think I am going to need some kind of control this year, for June Bugs have appeared by the thousands under my mercury vapor light this spring. The “white grub” is sure to follow. Orgies have a "natural" outcome- offspring. If you don’t believe me, watch the “Nature” channel.