Insect · GBIF taxon 4425774
Popillia japonica
popillia japonicaJapanese beetles display a brilliant metallic green thorax and copper-brown wing covers, fringed with distinctive white tufts of hair along their abdomen. These highly social pests gather in large numbers to skeletonize foliage, leaving behind lace-like remains of leaves on roses, grapes, and lindens. While their underground larvae devastate turfgrass by chewing roots, the adults use powerful pheromones to summon hundreds of companions to a single feeding site.
InvasiveMetallicAgricultural Pest
- diet
- Leaves, flowers, and fruit of over 300 plant species
- family
- Scarabaeidae
- threats
- Pesticides, parasitic wasps, and soil-dwelling nematodes
- life Span
- 1 year
Not Evaluated
Safe to observe at a normal distance.
- Hand-picking: Shake them into soapy water during cool mornings when they are sluggish.
- Pheromone trap caution: Avoid retail traps as they attract far more beetles than they catch.
- Damage recognition: Look for skeletonized leaves where only the tough veins remain.