When I was a kid the laundry would hang to dry on a clothesline pulley system outside our window. Those beetles would cling to the laundry and we had to pry them off prior to folding. I remember the metallic-like sharpness of their legs and bodies. In those days, the gardeners used very potent chemicals to ward them off. About that same time of year a municipal pick up truck with a smoke generator filled the streets with DDT smoke to help control the various pestilence. We played stickball for hours in the midst of that haze.Japanese Beetles are horrible buggers and difficult to get rid of.