CALDWELL, Idaho — Caldwell neighborhoods are full of green lawns and blooming flowers, but underneath this grass lives something that could destroy it all — the invasive Japanese beetle.
The Idaho State Department of Agriculture (ISDA) is working to stop these destructive pests from wreaking havoc in the state.
"How bad is it?" I asked. "Well, they kind of wiped everything out," said Fidencio Mercado, who is unfortunately all too familiar with the Japanese beetle.
"Four years ago, I had them in my backyard, and by the time I got there to put the chemical down, they wiped the whole yard out," said Mercado.
He is one of many Caldwell residents impacted by the invasive species targeting lawns, gardens, and crops in the area.
"The biggest problem with Japanese beetle is, as they are an invasive pest, they come here, they have no natural predators, so there's nothing to help keep them in check," said Jeremy Varley, ISDA's Chief Treatment Engineer.
He says they've battled these beetles before in Boise, where their treatments took 6 years to eradicate the pests.
"It can be very very detrimental to home gardens, and home landscapes, and just about anything with a leaf material they can feed on," said Varley.
But Idaho crops like corn, beans, grapes, and hops are also on the menu, threatening the state's agricultural industry.
"There's so many farms around here, we need to stop this before it gets out of hand," said Mercado. "We can replace a backyard, it doesn't cost that much, but if it comes into a field and wipes out 40 acres of whatever, you know, then it gets expensive to the farmers."
To help protect residents' yards and farmers' crops, ISDA is setting up traps across Caldwell to catch full-grown beetles and give them a better idea of where they need to apply their pesticide treatments.
ISDA is also addressing another population of Japanese Beetles in Pocatello.
"All of our populations are receding due to our active treatments that we have over the last couple of years," said Varley. "Really the goal is to eradicate it from Idaho and not let it be established here."
Caldwell residents will likely see ISDA around town for the next couple of weeks, setting up traps and getting prepped for their first treatment of the area in May.