TOWN OF MIDDLETON, Wis. — A particularly pesky insect has popped up in pockets all across our state.

While the invasive insect is one that can be hard to handle, one top expert says there are some new tricks you can try.

Farmer John Pray used to have the most beautiful red raspberries.

“For years, I would just come out, I’d pick every day for probably six weeks, you know, July and August, even September,” Pray said. “And then these bugs came, so it’s extremely frustrating because I love these raspberries.”

Sadly, the Japanese beetles do, too. University of Wisconsin-Madison insect diagnostic lab director PJ Liesch said he wasn’t surprised by Pray’s problem.

“So Japanese beetles are known to feed on over 300 different types of plants,” Liesch said. “But it’s really a continuum. Some they don’t care a whole lot for maybe if they’re desperate, they’ll nibble on it and some they really love it and up towards the top of the list would be raspberries.”

Pray, a non-commercial farmer, his current crop was sadly unsellable.

“When you can see the damage they’ve done just to that little part,” he said while showing off the damage. “I couldn’t sell it, but I can eat it.”

Meanwhile, Liesch had some ideas.

“I wouldn’t say there’s a way to get rid of them entirely, but there are effective ways to manage them in home garden settings,” he said.

Like an online only spray with a naturally occurring bacteria known as BTG.

“Bacillus thuringiensis gallery, which is a strain that works against Japanese beetles and actually works pretty well,” he said. “So folks, one organic option that’s often one that I recommended.”

Another spray, azadirachtin, from the Neme tree, is a good option as well.

“And that has pretty good activity against Japanese Beetles,” he said, but cautioned against buying Neme spray, as it can be ineffective.

He also said to steer clear of the traps. He said when plant damage happens, the plant chemicals attract even more beetles.

“Even more flying, so it’s kind of like blood and water drawing sharks,” Liesch said.

He encouraged hand-picking, if possible.

“The point is, if you limit that initial damage, you can prevent Japanese beetles from getting to the plants to a certain extent, so that’s been shown in research studies to help out,” he said.

Liesch said this year, the beetles are particularly challenging in northern Wisconsin, in sites where they had never been a problem before.