No, It's Not Soup. It's Bugs.

I'm beginning to wonder whether Japanese Beetles are a member of the locust family. After our initial infestation, much handpicking and spraying unappetizing concoctions on the foliage and shrubbery in our yard, we thought we had battled the beetles into obscurity. Or maybe the rains drove them away. Regardless, we thought they were gone.

The last couple of days, they've returned, dive-bombing our upstairs windows, trying to get to the light, I suppose. So I told David we should probably do a quick survey of the trees.

Holy. Beetles. Batman.

It definitely looks like we've been swarmed by a plague of beetles. They have turned so many bush and tree leaves into lace, and now they are attacking the iris leaves. So, once again, David and I headed out to the yard to strip it of beetles, with me handpicking and David spraying. The picture at the top of this blog entry shows what looks like "bug soup." Believe it or not, these bugs are not floating on the soapy water I drowned them in. They are stacked upon one another, two inches thick in the bucket. The picture at the right shows a side shot of the beetle bucket. See the shadow at the bottom? That's the beetle line. Ick.

We'll have to head outdoors soon tonight and do a beetle check to see if we've had any impact on the beetle numbers. I will be really glad when these beetles have moved on or died. They give me the creeps.