Japanese Beetle Detected
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is responsible for carrying out national surveys for regulated Plant Quarantine pests in Canada and we would like to share with you that our agency has recently detected Japanese Beetle, a regulated quarantine pest, in the Vancouver area . Should your members come across this pest our agency should be notified as soon as possible at 604 292-5742.
Excerpt from September 1 notice released subsequent to this article's first publication:
"The larva feeds on roots and is a major turf grass pest of golf courses, recreational and industrial parks, school grounds and home lawns. The adult feeds above-ground on foliage, flowers and fruits."
CLICK HERE for the Sep 1 notice from CFIA regarding the affected area and handling of Japanese beetle
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Summer 2017
NOTIFICATION
JAPANESE BEETLE DETECTION IN THE FALSE CREEK AREA OF VANCOUVER
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has detected Japanese beetle (Popillia Japonica) in the False Creek area of Vancouver, British Columbia (BC).
In July 2017, a live beetle was found in a trap that was put out in the City of Vancouver as part of the CFIA’s routine annual surveillance activities.
Testing confirmed the beetle to be Japanese beetle. Based on this finding, survey work is being expanded to determine if there are more Japanese beetles in the area. Results of this follow-up survey work to date have determined that there is a Japanese beetle incursion in the False Creek area and delimitation surveys are underway to determine the spread of the pest.
The response to the detection of Japanese beetle from the CFIA and its partners will be determined once surveillance activities have been completed in the Fall.
If there were to be a change in the JB regulatory status for BC from pest-free to infested it would not pose a trade barrier, but it could increase industry production costs by requiring regulated articles to be treated prior to export to pest-free areas in the United States.
There may also be significant costs associated with damage to grass, flowers and trees in parks and private properties.
At this point there are no impacts on exports or trade of host plants the beetle impacts. The CFIA will be formally notifying relevant export/trading partners as required.
Japanese beetle is not a risk to human health or food safety, but is a highly invasive pest that attacks the roots, leaves and fruit of a wide variety of plants, crops and trees.
It is not known at this time how the Japanese beetles came into BC. However, the Japanese beetle may have been introduced through the movement of nursery and greenhouse stock, infested soil from regulated areas or via airplanes, rail cars or other vehicles from areas where the pest is established.
The CFIA is currently using a trap with components attractive to Japanese beetle for its surveillance efforts. There are no pesticides in the traps. The traps are visible to the public and they are labelled with a description of the trap and its purpose in order to deter interference and proactively address questions that the public may have.
For more information about Japanese beetle please visit the CFIA’s website at http://inspection.gc.ca/JB. For information, calls or queries about the CFIA’s traps, surveillance work, or the pest itself, please call 604-292-5742. The public are asked to report any sightings to the CFIA at this number or through the web site.
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Japanese Beetle
Hosts - Turf is the most favoured host of the larval stage of this pest but the roots of other plants are also attacked. Adults are heavy feeders, attacking both foliage and fruit of more than 250 host plants. The following is a partial list of plants severely injured by the Japanese beetle: elm, maple, grape vine, peach, apple, apricot, cherry, plum, rose, zinnia, corn, asparagus, soybean, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries.
Description
Egg: Elliptical, white about 1.5 millimetres long, occurring singly about 8 centimetres beneath the soil surface.
Larva: A typical C-shaped creamy white grub with a yellowish-brown head. Less than 25 millimetres in length at maturity; occurring in the fibrous root zone of host plants. The V-shaped arrangement of the last two rows of spines on the last body segment distinguishes this grub from all others.
Pupa: About the same size as the adult and somewhat resembling the adult except that the legs, antennae and wings are closely folded to the body. The body, which at first is a pale cream colour, gradually becomes tan and finally the metallic green of the adult. The pupae are found about 5-8 centimetres beneath the soil surface (Figure 4).
Adult: Oval outline from above, almost 10 millimetres long and 6 millimetres wide, abdomen, thorax and head metallic green with metallic copper-brown wing coverings and contrasting white tufts of hair along the sides and rear of the abdomen, active on warm sunny days from late June to late summer (in southern Ontario) (Figure 5).
Trap Details: This is one of the versions of the Japanese beetle trap the Canadian Food Inspection Agency is using for surveillance in the Vancouver area during the summer of 2017.
For more information concerning Japanese beetle, or to report a Japanese beetle finding, please visit the CFIA’s website at http://www.inspection.gc.ca/JB
CLICK HERE for notice in printable pdf format