In St. Charles County is seems like the Japanese Beetles are on the attack. A viewer in St. Peters emailed News Four to alert us to the problem. David Haynes says he noticed that the leaves on his River Birch Trees began to die a couple of weeks ago. When he looked up in the branches of the tree he knew why, there were hundreds of Japanese Beetles chopping on his leaves. Haynes says the problem is just in his yard, his neighbors are also seeing a number of beetles settling on their trees and roses bushes. I spoke to a Don Walls today with Hartke Nursery in St. Louis County to find out what kind of help there is out there. Walls says there are two ways to treat the problem: put chemicals in the soil or spray the plants. If you're thinking about spraying he says make sure you do it when the temperature is below 85 degrees and when it is not too windy. If there is any good news in this story Wall says the Japanese Beetles normally die off before the end of summer.

The Japanese Beetles are native to Japan and first appeared in the United States in 1916. The beetles were spotted in a nursery near Riverton, New Jersey.

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