Japanese beetle quarantine area expands around Grandview
GRANDVIEW, Wash. – The quarantine area established earlier this year around Grandview to contain the spread of Japanese beetles has expanded, Washington State Department of Agriculture officials said Tuesday.
On Dec. 15, WSDA filed an emergency rule to expand the boundaries of the internal quarantine, which restricts the movement of items such as topsoil, yard debris, sod and plants from the infestation area.
The emergency rule took effect immediately and lasts through April 14, said Amber Betts, WSDA spokesperson. Officials also began the process of making the emergency rule permanent, she said.
The quarantine area, formally approved in September, is part of a three-pronged effort to eradicate Japanese beetles, an invasive pest that eats more than 300 types of plants, including roses, grapes and hops. Adults damage plants by skeletonizing the leaves, and they also feed on buds, flowers and fruit. The larvae are found in soil associated with the roots of host plants.
Earlier this month, the state agency announced it captured 23,945 adult beetles in 2022, a slight decline from the 24,048 trapped in 2021.
While almost all of these were trapped in the Grandview area, a concentration of 186 beetles trapped near Wapato in 2022, indicating the ease with which the insects can spread to new areas.
The state set up thousands of traps and coordinated insecticide application on 2,038 properties in the Grandview area this year to limit the spread.
Pests spread in Grandview
A Grandview resident first noticed the invasive pests on her roses in 2020, which prompted WSDA officials to deploy 1,900 traps across the state in 2021 to gauge the extent of the problem. About 900 traps were set in a 49-square-mile area around Grandview.
Sven-Erik Spichiger, an entomologist with WSDA, said 3,316 traps were placed across the Yakima Valley this year – more than three times as many as 2021.
Tuesday’s announcement of the emergency quarantine rule confirms that the beetles have spread beyond the initial infestation area in Grandview and the border with Benton County, said Camilo Acosta, the WSDA’s Japanese beetle eradication coordinator.
“Due to this, immediate action is needed to expand the internal Japanese beetle quarantine to more accurately reflect the area of infestation, in order to prevent the beetles from spreading into non-infested areas,” Acosta said.
The new areas stretch north of Grandview, across Interstate 82 toward Sunnyside, west toward State Route 241, south across State Route 22, and further into Benton County.
How to help
Adult Japanese beetle are metallic green and brown and have little tufts of white hair on their sides. They emerge – usually from lawns or in other soil – in the spring and feed throughout the summer.
From fall to spring the grubs (larvae) overwinter in the soil and slowly develop into mature adults ready to emerge again in the spring.
Community members can help by trapping, reporting and killing the beetles on their properties, the WSDA’s Betts said. Residents must not move material that could contain beetles outside of the quarantine area.
A drop-off site for yard debris and other plant material is open in Grandview from May to October, the adult flight season. Businesses and residents can take all accepted items to 875 Bridgeview Road, Grandview. There is no charge for disposal.
Those moving out of the quarantine area will not be able to take any of the regulated plants and yard material with them.
Contact Joel Donofrio at jdonofrio@yakimaherald.com.