Whats up with all these beetles that are swarming the yard all of a sudden? They don't seem to be doing much but flying around the yard. Should we be concerned about them? Thanks for any info... Tom
Beetle invasion
I don't know a lot about Japanese beatles, but I do know that they live in the soil during their larval stage, those are the big fat grubs you fing in the soil when you dig and under the grass turf.
I think that by the time they come out they are ready to mate and go back where they came from.
I have never seen them cause much damage. Josephine.
According to an article by the government of Ontario, the Japanese bettle does considerable damage to more than 300 plant species. They prefer apples, cherries, grapes, peaches, roses, maples and linden and considered a serious pest in the fruit and ornamental industries. The grubs feed on the roots of many plants, but they seem to prefer grass roots.
So what kind of beetle is this? I thought Japanese Beetles were small? Grub worms are June Bugs, but those aren't Japanese Beetles, right? Now I'm really confused. lol I've only seen this beetle twice, both times it was on a rotten banana sat out for the butterflies. If it were swarming I might be alarmed tho. Ask on the Garden Foe "Friend or Foe" thread. Night_Bloom or TamaraFaye can ID lots of bugs.
Japanese Beetles are very similar to June Beetles in size and color, but Japanese Beetles have an irridescent green color. The larval form of both are grubs.
We've been having an invasion of beetles here too. They're bigger and black though. Does anyone know what these could be ? I have a picture, but its on a different computer. I'll post it tomorrow and I'll try the other forum too.
Art... you probably have an invasion of scarab beetles. I'm not sure about their life history, but I know they can "swarm" about this time of year!!
Silverflutter, in TN they had green June beetles that just flew around the yard, they didn't seem to eat much, at least not like Japanese beetles. They were identical to the Japanese beetles,irridescent green, except they were about 3 times bigger! Down here, we have brown June beetles. They all come from grub worms.
I've read about scarab beetles swarming, but I've never seen them in person.
We just had those big cicada killer wasps swarming everywhere, but they're about gone now.
Thank you silver! I found this website, and it seems to have some really good information. Maybe you and Cala could find your beetles on here. I think mine is either Horned Passalus or the Unknown Ground Bettle poss,Tribe Licinini (at the very bottom).
http://www.giffbeaton.com/beetles.htm
Yeppers... according to that site, they are green june beetles. But it doesn't say anything about if they are a concern for gardeners or not. They have not been bothering my grapes any, they are just flying around under the oak trees where the grass is thick. Too bad the fish don't like them, or I would be recycling a lot of them.
Perhaps they are flying around looking for small children and animals?
;-)
lol!
:-o