Japanese Beetle Adults will feed on trees, shrubs, and flowers. Grubs feed on the roots of grasses below the surface of the soil.
Colors Japanese Beetles are attracted to
Light colors especially white and yellow rose flowers tend to attract more Japanese Beetle Adults than darker colors.
Landscape Plants Likely to be Attractive to Japanese Beetles
Japanese Maple
Norway Maple
Horse Chestnut
Hollyhock
Gray Birch
American Chestnut
Rose-of-Sharon, Rose Althea
Black Walnut
Flowering Crabapple
Apple
London Planetree
Lombardy Poplar
Prunus Species (Cherry, black cherry, plum, peach, etc.)
Roses
Sassafras
American Mountain Ash
American Linden
American Elm
English Elm
Grape
Plants Seldom Damaged by Japanese Beetles
Boxelder
Red Maple
Silver Maple
Boxwood
Shagbark Hickory
Flowering Dogwood
Persimmon
Euonymus
White Ash
Green Ash
Holly
Butternut
Tuliptree
American Sweetgum
Magnolia
Red Mulberry
White Poplar
Common Pear
White Oak
Scarlet Oak
Red Oak
Black Oak
American Elder
Common Lilac
Most Evergreen Ornamentals
Pheremones
Adult Japanese Beetles mainly focus on eating and reproducing. Outside of food attractants, sex pheromones will quickly draw their attention. Most trapping mechanisms on the market for Japanese Beetle adults contain both pheromones and floral attractants.