Japanese beetles, a threat to turf grass as well as ornamental plants such as roses and cut flowers, have been detected in the Fair Oaks area, the Sacramento County Department of Agriculture announced today.

Three beetles were found in the vicinity of Greenback Lane and Fair Oaks Boulevard. The Japanese beetle is a voracious invasive species that has caused extensive damage in the eastern United States, according to a department news release.

The good news, officials said, is that the infestation appears to be localized. But to keep the infestation from spreading countywide, Juli Jensen, acting agricultural commissioner, urged residents in the area not to move plants or plant parts.

Japanese beetles are native to Japan and generally infest the Eastern Seaboard, spreading south to Alabama and west to Mississippi. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Japanese beetle is the most widespread turf-grass pest in the United States, and expenditures to control it are estimated at more than $460 million a year.

Adult beetles feed on the leaves, flowers and fruit of more than 300 species of plants, while larvae, also known as grubs, live in the soil and feed on plant roots, especially those of grasses. An adult Japanese beetle is a little less than a half-inch long and has a shiny, metallic-green body and bronze-colored outer wings, with small tufts of white hair along the sides of its body under the edges of its wings.

An informational open house will be held from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Orangevale Recreation and Park District meeting room, 6826 Hazel Ave., Orangevale. Representatives from the county Department of Agriculture, California Department of Food and Agriculture, California Department of Pesticide Regulation and the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment will be on hand to discuss the treatment program.

On Aug. 2, the California Department of Food and Agriculture is scheduled to begin ground applications of carbaryl on fruit-bearing trees, and cyfluthrin on non-fruit-bearing trees and landscape plants. The initial treatments will be directed at adult beetles.

Two weeks later, a second final treatment will be applied and augmented by a granular imidacloprid, a systemic treatment, to target grubs. The applications, to occur on approximately 100 properties, will be carried out by the department staff and subcontractors following all pesticide use laws and regulations, with advance and post-treatment notices to residents, according to the news release.

The agricultural commissioner's pesticide use enforcement staff will randomly monitor applications, and the Department of Pesticide Regulation, which approves pesticides for use in California, will provide environmental monitoring during the treatment.

The public is asked to help by not moving plant material, cooperating with agricultural officials and reporting suspicious bugs to the Department of Food and Agriculture's Pest Hotline, (800) 491-1899. From more information, see the website at www.cdfa.ca.gov.

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