State official: Japanese beetle counts up fourfold in Pasco; quarantine and expanded treatments under consideration

Camilo Acosta, the Japanese beetle eradication coordinator with the Washington State Department of Agriculture, told Franklin County commissioners that trap counts in and near Pasco have risen sharply this year and that the agency is expanding both turf and foliar treatments and reopening talks about an internal quarantine.

Acosta said the program has been active in Franklin County for three years and that, as of his update to the board, crews had trapped about 2,000 Japanese beetles so far this year — about four times the number trapped in 2024. He said residential turf treatments began in 2024 (about 900 residents treated that year) and that crews completed 2,254 turf treatments between April and June of the current year and roughly 600 full-year treatments by July. Acosta told commissioners the program will continue trapping through October and expects field treatments to wrap up for the season around Aug. 15.

The state official said crews widened treatments this year to include foliar sprays targeting adult beetles…