CALDWELL, Idaho — The Japanese beetle is a pest, and it moves quickly. People who experience an infestation may wish they could be magically whisked away like in the movie "Beetlejuice," where saying his name three times makes him appear or disappear. Or the song "Help!" by The Beatles, could also apply.
"It's a threat because it could impact the way we grow our crops,' said Caldwell resident Adam Ozuna. "They can kind of spread rather quickly."
Idaho has seen infestations before, but this is the first time the beetle has been in Caldwell. Residents and farmers are concerned and the Idaho Department of Agriculture has been working on curbing the problem.
The Administrator for the Idaho Department of Agriculture, Andrea Thompson said it's rare to see them in Idaho but there have been previous infestations, and the beetles are a pest.
"It's flying and eating everything else in the landscape, your roses, your maple trees, but then from there, it becomes a threat to our agricultural production," she said. "We've seen them here in Idaho once before there was an infestation in Boise from 2012 to 2018."
This is the first time the beetle has been seen in Caldwell. Ozuna said he hopes the infestation doesn't spread to him and his wife's home garden.
"This is the first find ever in Caldwell. And to have it here, right in the midst of agricultural production area is a big deal," he said. "My wife probably would have been worse off than me. Oh, these are her babies. I mean, she really takes care of it, but you know, it takes special attention to get the watering down and the pruning and all that stuff."
Thompson said the department has been working to fight the problem and has so far treated over 1,800 properties.
"We have a Japanese beetle infestation," Thompson said. "It wasn't until we found it and put forward an action plan to do treatment, that it impacted them directly."
However, she said they have been getting pushback from some community members concerned with safety.
She said that people are concerned for the, "safety for kids and pets. And then also pollinator protection, pollinator protection is a big deal bees and butterflies. Thankfully, with this treatment, it is a granule it's only being applied to the grass."
She added that by treating homes first it will help ameliorate the problem during harvest.
"It's another means by which our growers are going to have to use integrated pest management practices, apply more pesticides. And we don't want to have to do that if we can get it here where it's most vulnerable in the grass and get it taken care of and get it knocked out," Thompson said.
If people see dead grass or leaves that look like they have been munched on, they should contact the department.
"They're being proactive and attacking it early on. So fortunately, you know, we won't have that issue," she said.
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