Adult Japanese beetles are about 3/8 of an inch long and bright metallic green with coppery brown wing covers. In its grub, or larval, stage the Japanese beetle is a curved, grayish-white worm (see White Grubs above).

Since beetle grubs feed on the roots of lawn turfgrasses and adults feed on ornamental plants, these insects are most often found around homes and gardens. The adult beetles emerge from the ground in early to mid summer to feed. Grubs inflict most of their feeding damage in late summer and fall.

Accidentally introduced into the United States in 1916, Japanese beetles have spread through most of the East and Midwest. The beetles are extremely destructive, attacking flowers, fruits, trees, lawns and pastures. Japanese beetle adults eat around 300 types of trees and plants. They usually feed in groups, causing a great deal of damage by eating plant tissue between the veins of the leaves. Japanese beetles are strong fliers, frequently traveling one or two miles. Grubs feed on the roots of living lawn grasses, sometimes damaging spots enough that the grass can be lifted like a rug.

Many kinds of birds eat Japanese beetle grubs, as do small animals such as moles and skunks. Probably the best control for this damaging pest is a combination of measures: selection of plants known to be relatively free of feeding by adult beetles, traps to capture the adults (Please note: since these traps lure the beetles it is important to place them 20 to 30 feet away from desirable plants.), insecticide treatment of especially vulnerable plants, and insecticide treatment of the soil to combat beetle grubs.