BEDEQUE – Ron Rayner is a June bug’s worst nightmare.
The nuisance bug, its presence that most people dread, has a nemesis in Rayner.
“Every one of those would want to lay a thousand eggs on my lawn and I don’t want them laying a thousand eggs on my lawn,” he said, pointing to 200 of the dead bugs.
His lawn, of sprawling seven-and-a-half acre property with its well-manicured flowerbeds and lush green grass, is situated on Route 2 in Bedeque.
It’s Rayner’s pride and joy, something he wants to protect from pests like June bugs, which lay eggs underneath the grass, causing ugly brown, dry patches later on in the summer on his otherwise perfect lawn.
“I came out last night and it just takes a minute or two and, all of a sudden, Mother Nature says, now! There were June bugs coming up out of the ground everywhere,” he added. “They are the little devils that fly, mate, go lay eggs and then disappear. They are the ones that are going to kill your grass in August.”
But now Rayner has built a trap, the “exterminator,” he jokingly called it, that each night traps and kills hundreds of the flying bugs.
It’s attracted some attention, with passersby wondering “if the Martians have landed” since the 45-gallon barrel, cut in half, with its hanging bug zapper and bright lights aglow nightly, seems out of place on the pristine property.
“At a certain time, usually about 15 minutes after sundown, is when they start to fly, and by 11 or 11:15 it is all over. They are done for that day,” Rayner said of the creepy bugs. “At 10 o’clock last night there were probably six in that thing.”
By 11, when he shut the lights of the ‘exterminator’ down, the count reached 200.
“If any of the bugs hit the bug unit on the side, the top or the back, they just fall off and they are on the grass,” added Rayner.
“I do go out and pick them up and throw them into the water. They’ve come this far so they might as well have their swim,” he said with a laugh.
It’s just shy of a week since Rayner set up the contraption in his front yard.
“I count them every day. The first two nights it was 150, 154.”
But that wasn’t enough. A brighter light, a 50-watt track lighting bulb, was added.
The next morning more than 400 dead June bugs were in Rayner’s trap.
The bottom half of the barrel, cut in two, contains water and soap that drown and kill the bugs, using different spectrum of light to attract the dark brown bugs to their final resting place. It’s a trap, he said, that anyone could build inexpensively.
So, do the bugs creep him out?
“Scared of them, hate them? No, they’re just another creature,” said Rayner.
BEDEQUE – Ron Rayner is a June bug’s worst nightmare.
The nuisance bug, its presence that most people dread, has a nemesis in Rayner.
“Every one of those would want to lay a thousand eggs on my lawn and I don’t want them laying a thousand eggs on my lawn,” he said, pointing to 200 of the dead bugs.
His lawn, of sprawling seven-and-a-half acre property with its well-manicured flowerbeds and lush green grass, is situated on Route 2 in Bedeque.
It’s Rayner’s pride and joy, something he wants to protect from pests like June bugs, which lay eggs underneath the grass, causing ugly brown, dry patches later on in the summer on his otherwise perfect lawn.
“I came out last night and it just takes a minute or two and, all of a sudden, Mother Nature says, now! There were June bugs coming up out of the ground everywhere,” he added. “They are the little devils that fly, mate, go lay eggs and then disappear. They are the ones that are going to kill your grass in August.”
But now Rayner has built a trap, the “exterminator,” he jokingly called it, that each night traps and kills hundreds of the flying bugs.
It’s attracted some attention, with passersby wondering “if the Martians have landed” since the 45-gallon barrel, cut in half, with its hanging bug zapper and bright lights aglow nightly, seems out of place on the pristine property.
“At a certain time, usually about 15 minutes after sundown, is when they start to fly, and by 11 or 11:15 it is all over. They are done for that day,” Rayner said of the creepy bugs. “At 10 o’clock last night there were probably six in that thing.”
By 11, when he shut the lights of the ‘exterminator’ down, the count reached 200.
“If any of the bugs hit the bug unit on the side, the top or the back, they just fall off and they are on the grass,” added Rayner.
“I do go out and pick them up and throw them into the water. They’ve come this far so they might as well have their swim,” he said with a laugh.
It’s just shy of a week since Rayner set up the contraption in his front yard.
“I count them every day. The first two nights it was 150, 154.”
But that wasn’t enough. A brighter light, a 50-watt track lighting bulb, was added.
The next morning more than 400 dead June bugs were in Rayner’s trap.
The bottom half of the barrel, cut in two, contains water and soap that drown and kill the bugs, using different spectrum of light to attract the dark brown bugs to their final resting place. It’s a trap, he said, that anyone could build inexpensively.
So, do the bugs creep him out?
“Scared of them, hate them? No, they’re just another creature,” said Rayner.
About the June bug
June bugs are found all over North America, hiding during the day in trees. At night, usually in late spring early summer, they swarm in great numbers and are strongly attracted to lights.
As a larva, they live underground and eat the roots of grasses and other plants. As adults, they feed at night and eat vegetation, usually the leaves from trees and bushes.
June bugs have four stages of development: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Eggs are laid in the ground. They can live two to three years in the ground as a larva before surfacing to become an adult. A June bug’s total lifespan is up to four years.
