The Palisade Colorado Japanese Beetle Eradication Program

NEWS RELEASE - June 11, 2004

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Insecticide Application to Begin in Palisade to Eradicate the Japanese Beetle

The Japanese Beetle Eradication Committee announced today that TruGreen ChemLawn® will begin applying insecticide to Palisade area lawns on Monday, June 14th to eradicate the Japanese beetle from Mesa County. TruGreen ChemLawn will have 5 teams working at a pace of 30-50 properties/team/day. There are nearly 800 properties that will be treated and the entire effort should be concluded by Friday, June 18.

TruGreen ChemLawn has donated their time, labor, and equipment for this project. They have also agreed to allow The Town of Palisade to use their equipment, free of charge, to apply the insecticide to turfgrass on city-owned properties such as parks and municipal buildings. The value of TruGreen’s donation totals over $18,000. TruGreen will be using a granular insecticide, Merit, which was donated by the Bayer Corporation. The approximate retail value of Bayer’s donation is $12,500.

The distribution of Japanese beetles in western Colorado is limited to Palisade. The larvae of Japanese beetles are one of many species of white grubs, which are a serious pest of irrigated lawns throughout Colorado. Mid-June to early July is the best time to control white grubs, which are susceptible to insecticide treatments as eggs hatch. Lawns with a history of white grubs can be protected from damage with an insecticide application within the next month.

Further information is available by contacting the Japanese Beetle Eradication Program Coordinator, Matt Camper, at 250-2694, Tri River Cooperative Extension at 244-1834, or Lee Eadie, Branch Manager of TruGreen ChemLawn, at 245-4404.