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Popillia japonica
The beetle species Popillia japonica is commonly known as the Japanese beetle. It is about 15 millimetres (0.6 in) long and 10 millimetres (0.4 in) wide, with iridescent copper-colored elytra and green thorax and head. It is not very destructive in Japan, where it is controlled by natural predators, but in America it is a serious pest of about 200 species of plants, including rose bushes, grapes, hops, canna, crape myrtles, and others.
I found lots of these guys this afternoon while I was planting trees in our yard. :(
Spotted on Nov 6, 2011
Submitted on Nov 6, 2011
4 Comments
Good point Kristal - I'm assuming japanese beetle because I found a few of the beetles in the summer, but I guess it could be another species. Whatever they were, they were appreciated by the bluebirds!
How can you tell it is a japanese beetle larva and not a similar scarab beetle's larva? I'm curious because I keep find some sort of scarab larva in my garden, and would eagerly squash them if I knew they were japanese beetles.
:) Yes, I've been posting far too many warm & cuddly critters lately!
R u playing in the dirt again! HA! Gross but cool!