Photo credit: Colorado State University
Japanese beetles have many preferences. It’s harder to find plants they avoid. Cheryl Smith, CDA Division of Plant Industry, provided the following list of favored plants for the Japanese beetle. Her list includes a family, so the Japanese beetle has a broad range of host preferences. She also said that it is really hard to say whether there is any plant that Japanese beetles won’t eat because if the population is large enough, they will feed off of any plant.
1. Rose family (in addition to roses, it includes over 90 genera and consists of several crop plants such as apples, pears and raspberries)
2. Grape
3. Virginia Creeper
4. Prunus family (trees and shrubs which include the fruits: plum, cherry, peach and many others)
5. Linden
Five Plants Said to Deter Japanese Beetles
1. Garlic
2. Catnip
3. Chives
4. White chrysanthemum
5. Marigolds
