Japanese beetles are close to being wiped out in Orem

One more year of treatment, and the Japanese beetles in Orem may be wiped out.

After three years of intense treatment, only five of the tiny pests, all males, were collected this year in the 1,900 traps set out by the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food. That is a 95 percent reduction over the 101 insects collected a year ago.

As a result, Orem City is lifting restrictions on its Green Waste Collection Program that was put in place to help prevent the spread of the beetle through the movement of sod and discarded shrubs and tree limbs.

"We are very pleased that we collected so few beetles this year. This gives us hope that we can eradicate this pest," said Clint Burfitt, the program's manager.

Still, the presence of five male beetles means the agriculture department will be required to continue spraying one more year, over a reduced area of 100 acres bordered by 500 North, 350 West, 100 North and 725 West.

When Japanese beetles were first identified in Orem in 2006, state officials sprayed nearly 600 acres of property for the beetles. That first year, gardens were restricted in the treatment areas, but the restrictions were lifted in 2007.

Department spokesman Larry Lewis said the Orem beetle-eradication effort has attracted positive attention.

"According to the feedback we are getting from other states, they are pleasantly surprised at our success," Lewis said.

He said the state looked at other efforts, took the best and combined them for Orem, spraying both the ground to kill the beetle larvae and leaves after the adult beetles had emerged.

"We got them while they were feasting on the roots, and then we got them when they emerged and chomped on the leaves of gardens and trees," Lewis said.

He said the cooperation of Orem residents in the affected neighborhoods was crucial to making the eradication plan effective.

Lewis said next year's efforts would be limited to spraying the turf, and pesticides sprayed on the ground in August would be stored in the plants' roots until spring.

"If there were any females that laid eggs this year, those larvae will consume the treated root and die before they come up," he said.

The eradication program will cost the state between $500,000 and $600,000, but it will protect a $20 million agricultural industry that would face a federal quarantine if the Japanese-beetle outbreak were not addressed.

e-mail: mhaddock@desnews.com