Japanese Beetles

I had seen a couple beetles on my strawberry plants and a couple more on my tropical hibiscus, but since this my first year to do any real gardening, I never gave them a thought.

Then my sister came over this morning and pointed out that something was eating my strawberry leaves. And it hit me that those darn beetles were doing it. Duh, sometimes the obvious escapes me.

So I searched for images and found what I think I have ... Japanese beetles.

I took off all that I found after I sprayed them with Safer insecticidal soap. I will have to be more diligent and check everyday. I plan to just pick them off and drop them into soapy water and see how they like that.

photo from cdfa.ca.gov

And here is a picture, though not very good, of one of them on my strawberries and the damage they are doing to the leaves.