State: Possibility of Japanese beetle infestation is low

Stephen Curran

Wednesday, July 24, 2002 | 9:31 a.m.

Inspectors from the Nevada Department of Agriculture uncovered a stowaway on a Federal Express cargo plane during a routine search of the aircraft last week.

The unwelcome guest was a Japanese beetle, an insect well known on the East Coast for wreaking havoc on lawns, golf courses and pastures. The bug, which does not naturally inhabit Western states, attacks the foliage, flowers and fruits of more than 300 ornamental and agricultural plants.

Japanese beetles do not present a medical risk, said Jeff Knight, entomologist for the state of Nevada.

The insect, found on July 17, was quarantined right away, stopping it from causing any damage to lawns and foliage in the Las Vegas area, he said.

"One beetle doesn't start an infestation," Knight said. "Just because one beetle is alive doesn't mean there's going to be an infestation."

The agency normally sets between 80 and 90 traps for the insects on cargo planes coming from Midwest and East Coast cities, particularly Memphis, Tenn., and Indianapolis. The two cities were singled out because of their high infestation rates.

The flight that brought the beetle originated in Memphis.

The find means that traps placed throughout the planes were not effective enough, Knight said.

"Finding a live beetle means the treatment wasn't effective," Knight said. "The fact that there was a live one is of concern. We're looking at how to tighten up the pathways."

However, the bug is so rare in the Las Vegas area that even many professional exterminators have never dealt with it. Russ Hedland, manager of Desert Pest Control in Henderson, has only seen Japanese beetles in books.

"There are millions of beetles in the world," Hedland said. "I don't know where (Japanese beetles) come from or their habitat. I've never dealt with one."

From what he's read, however, Hedland said that the insect could potentially cause hundreds of dollars in damage to plant life.

"Any time an insect is brought into an area it's not indigenous to, it's going to make an impact," he said.

A Japanese Beetle is about 3/8 of an inch long and can be identified by its green and metallic copper wings. Five small white tufts project from under the wing, which helps distinguish them from similar insects.

An isolated infestation did occur at a Las Vegas golf course in 1991. It took three years and more than $300,000 to eradicate the beetles. Similar incidents in California and Oregon have cost into the millions, according to the Nevada Department of Agriculture.

What makes an infestation so potentially disastrous is the female beetle's ability to lay up to 300 eggs at one time. Despite that fact, an infestation is so rare that area residents need not worry, said Margie Klein, coordinator of the Master Gardener program at the Cooperative Extension program at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

"No one has found them (in area lawns)," she said. "It's not even something I would alarm the public about."

Officials from McCarran International Airport were unaware of the find, airport spokeswoman Debbie Millett said.

"It's news to me," she said.

McCarran is one of several airports where cargo aircraft are carefully searched for the insect, Knight said. A normal search uncovers several dead bugs, but rarely turns up a live one, he said.