The State Department of Agriculture in Washington is expanding eight times in the area of private and public land in the trigrams, which wants to spray pesticide to fight highly destructive Japanese beetles.
What was a square mile treated in Pasco last spring will expand to eight square miles, including the Colombia Rezen Park on the south side of the Colombia River in Kennevik this year.
This will be the first time the treatment has been done at Kennewick by the state to kill Japanese beetle larvae or to tingle in the soil before appearing as adults.
In 2023, five Japanese beetles were discovered in Pasco, but the following year, 408 were found in Pasco and one trapped across the Colombia River in Kennevik near the Haratnn Primary School.
State Japanese beetles caught in the lid of the Ministry of Agriculture increased from 19,544 in 2023 to 26,700 last year.
Most were caught in the lower valley of Yakima, with 24,700 found in Sunnyside, GrandView, Mabton and the far west side of Benton County. Japanese beetles were also found in Prosser as the infection began with three beetles in GrandView in 2020.
Japanese beetles feed on more than 300 plants and can devastate grape crops, stripes roses and other garden plants on their leaves and damage grass in homes, parks and golf courses.
Adult Japanese beetle.
Adult Japanese beetles are up to half an inch length and have metal green heads and chest and overflowing copper covers on the wing. During spring, white C-shaped larvae with tan and visible legs can be seen.
Civil servants of the Ministry of Agriculture said in November that capture itself is not enough to remove Japanese beetles from the state.
Treatment of beetles is lagging behind
So far, spring pesticide treatments have been voluntary and property owners must agree every year to treat their properties.
But only about half of property owners in areas of concern gave permission to treat their land last year.
“So far, the level of participation in the Community has been sufficient only to delay, but not stopping or eliminating Japanese beetles from our country,” said Sven Spichiger, a pest management manager at the Ministry of Agriculture. “If we are not allowed to treat most properties in infected areas, it is only a matter of time before it is too late to uproot.”
Then homeowners, gardeners and farmers will be left with the responsibility and cost not only for the management of the pest, but also to the burden of observing constant regulations of the quarantines, he said.
Adult Japanese beetles that feed on a leaf.
Parts of Yakima’s lower valley are already under the Japanese quarantine of a beetle. Residents have no right to remove soil or sod or plants that are not without soil, such as fruit trees and pot plants, from the quarantine area throughout the year.
Removal of plants and plant cuttings, roots, grass slices, sliced flowers, among other vegetation that could acquire Japanese beetles, is prohibited in the area on May 15 to October 15, the season when adult beetles live. Instead, they must be taken by landowners to special disposal areas.
In countries that have constant infections of beetles, farmers and plant nurseries, they are subject to expensive and restrictive quarantines to move their products, as well as increased costs for pesticide beetle management, according to the State Department of Washington.
Residents also have to deal with pests in their lawns and gardens, or increasing the use of pesticides or manually removing beetles – some even use vacuums due to the clean number of beetles, the agency said. Visitors and tourists also need to deal with beetles, which are inconveniences flying in them.
Pasco, Kennewick treatment areas
This year, the Ministry of Agriculture seeks permission from Tri-Cities landowners for the treatment of land from North Road 64 to the east of around the North First Avenue in Pasco.
The State Department of Agriculture in Washington is seeking a permit to treat public and private properties outlined in red this spring to help eliminate invasive Japanese beetles that are distributed in the trigrams.
The southern edge of Pasco’s treatment will be the Colombia River or East Einsworth Avenue north to West Livingston Road, including part of the Colombia College North of the Interstate 182.
In Kennevik, the area to be treated will be in the Colombia Park west of the blue bridge along the river almost mile and will also include a small amount of private land south of the 240 highway.
The treatment is performed with the insecticidal aceleprine, which kills Japanese beetles and some other pests in their stage or larven stage in the soil. It is not considered a health risk for humans, pets, wildlife or insects, such as bees that do not go through the state of larvae in the soil.
About 17,600 property owners in the regions of treatment of Yakima, Benton and Franklin have been sent letters with a consent form and PIN number.
If you are in a treatment area and need a form to allow spraying, they are available in the Pasco City Hall, plus additional mayoralties in the Valley of Lower Yakima. To register online, go to Agr.wa.gov/beetles and scroll down to the “Register Now” field. I
If you need help to register or retrieve your PIN number, call 800-443-6684 or send an email to pest@agr.wa.gov.