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Japanese Beetles
- A pest of lawns and landscape plants -
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Summary: The larvae, or white grubs, of Japanese beetle feed on the roots of grasses while the adult beetles feed on a wide variety of landscape plants. These beautifully ornate beetles can be an extremely destructive turf and landscape pest.
Jack DeAngelis, PhD
OSU Ext. Entomologist (ret.)
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What are Japanese beetles?
 Japanese beetles (right) are important turf and landscape pests in the eastern US. The adults are roughly 3/8" long with coppery wing covers, metallic green back and a row of white tufts along the sides. Adults feed on a wide variety of plants where they "skeletonize" leaves (remove leaf tissue between the veins). Japanese beetles belong to a large family of ornate beetles called scarabs (Scarabidae). These beautiful beetles have even been used in religious ceremonies by a number of ancient cultures.
Japanese beetle larvae, or white grubs, are typical of other scarab larvae. Larvae live in the soil where they feed on plant roots and can do serious damage. Larvae are white with a brownish head capsule and three pairs of legs. The "tail" end is usually packed with ingested soil particles and larvae are generally bent into a characteristic "C" shape as well.
common misspelling: Japanese beatle
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Japanese beetle adult ~ 3/8" long; photo by David Cappaert, www.forestryimages.org
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Life history of Japanese beetles
Adult beetles emerge from the soil in mid-summer. Adults feed for a few days then female beetles begin to lay eggs back in the soil. Larvae develop in the soil during the fall and spring, feeding on roots, ready to emerge as adults the following summer. Root feeding is a major part of the damage from these beetles.
Can I control Japanese beetles?
Adult beetles can be hand-picked from plants and dropped into soapy water. Plant foliage can be treated with insecticide to prevent feeding and larvae can be treated with a special microbial insecticide applied to the soil. Since Japanese beetle has only one generation per year it is possible to significantly reduce their population in a given area with proper treatments.
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Mission: To provide accurate, up-to-date and unbiased information for solving common insect and mite problems around your home, business and landscape using least-toxic methods.
Jack DeAngelis, Ph.D.
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Copyright © 2004-... LivingWithBugs, LLC. All rights reserved. Page Updated: 1/6/2010
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are very effective for adult control and as a way to determine if this pest is present when populations are low. See Related Articles below for more information about least-toxic insecticides.