How Kill the Japanese Beetles Bugs in My Strawberry Plant

Remove the adult beetles manually from the plants. Japanese beetles are much less active in the early morning and late evening. Simply pick the beetles off the strawberry plants during those times; the beetles will make little effort to escape. Fill a bucket with warm water and mix it with some dish soap. Drop the beetles into the soapy water to kill them. Wear a pair of work gloves if you don't like the idea of handling the beetles.

Spray the strawberry plants with a pesticide labeled for Japanese beetle use. Choose a pesticide that is not harmful to the strawberry plants, such as an organic product. Spray the pesticide directly on the beetles to kill them. You may have better luck if you choose to spray them in the early morning or late evening, when the beetles are least active and are less likely to fly away.

Set up a Japanese beetle trap. Japanese beetle traps typically contain a stand, plastic bag and bait to lure in the beetles. The bait contains pheromones, or chemical scents that attract the adult beetles searching for mates with which to breed. The pheromones are effective and attract huge numbers of beetles. For this reason, set the beetle trap 20 or 30 feet away from your garden and strawberry plants so as not to attract the beetles directly to the garden, where they may pause to eat your strawberries.

Treat the soil around your strawberry plants with milky spore. Milky spore is a bacterium that kills Japanese beetle grubs, but it is not harmful to any plants or animals. Milky spore is normally sold in powder form and is available at garden supply stores. Apply the powder to the soil as directed, and water the soil if directed by the product instructions. The milky spore filters down into the soil and kills the beetle grubs, preventing them from feeding on your plants' root systems.