Beetlemania

This Japanese beetle doesn't know it, but the wrath of McBone is about to descend up on it.  That's a shame really, because Japanese beetles, with their green and bronze carapaces, are among the lovelier bugs in the insect kingdom.

 If only they weren't so gluttonous.

That's the leaf from my Concord vine that I found this fellow munching on.  Japanese beetles are one of the great grapevine scourges in all of viticulture.  An infestation can defoliate entire vineyards in a matter of minutes--think of the proverbial cow-meets-piranha scenario.  No leaves means no photosynthesis.  That's bad news for everyone--grapes, vine and wino alike.

The pest is difficult to control on a commercial operation.  Luckily, a single vine is easy to manage--just pluck up a lunching bug with the thumb and forefinger apply the right amount of pressure...

nwb