and mealy bugs. This insect stands out in the garden for its red or orange shells, with black stripes and a round shape.

The Prior Lake Community Garden spent much of the summer under siege. The invader: the Japanese beetle. The Japanese ... bronze-green carapace, spiky black legs and a lazy, ambling gait.

With that thought in mind, I have been asked for years about the Japanese beetle. Japanese beetles have been defoliating plants in the eastern United States, slowly working their way west.