Posted on 08/10/2015 10:58:34 AM PDT by Kevin in California
Been living in the Bay Area (San Jose) since 1967 and have never seen one of these beetles until the last week or so. The pic is deceiving but this thing is pretty good sized. Sounds like a mini 747 when it flies. Also, has a bad ass shiny green color almost looks like it was green anodized.
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 North America it is a serious pest of about 200 species of plants, including rose bushes, grapes, hops, canna, crape myrtles, birch trees, linden trees and others.
it looks at first like a “Japanese Beetle” but it is not. it is a “green june beetle”. if you look them both up you will see the difference
Yes, see my correction on #70, where I admitted that I had not read all of the responses before I chimed in...
These beetles are harmless to humans and damn near retarded as bugs go. As a teenager, some friends and I saw one flying lumbering through the air and hit a high tension power line and fall to the ground -- the only possible thing it could hit on it's flight path and it hits the wire dead center. Just stupid. We died laughing.
These are common in Summer (hence, 'June') in SoCal. They're flying scarabs. You can hold them in your hand and play with them. They don't bite. They will go nuts for fruit and flowers though.
Not to change the subject, but do you remember those ugly potato bugs??? I lived in southern OC til the early 70s. Those things gave me nightmares.
Seen lots of them. They have been shredding the grape leaves and the roses in my garden.
It’s a Japanese beetle.
There is a similar shaped beetle called the goldsmith beetle that is beautiful.
http://www.insectidentification.org/insect-description.asp?identification=Dark-Jerusalem-Cricket
These little buggers burrow them selves in to the flowers. Take a look inside the rose flowers and you’ll see them. You might get lucky and catch them before they lay eggs in the soil. Cut the rose off and mash them.
You know what’s crazy?
I helped clean out my wife’s grandpa’s place when he passed, and one of the things I ended up with was a jug of, you guessed it, Malathion. It must have been several years old.
So yeah, we finally have the perfect cocktail mixer.
No, it's a Green August Bug....aka, Augustus Nitida....
Entomology can be really interesting.
Wow, we're related then........who woulda thought
Not when they're on your car's front grill......
We still can buy pints of 26% active Ortho malathion here in Ohio. Can’t get chlorpyrifos anymore, tho.
Both the June bug and Japanese Beetle may have iridescent green parts, the major difference is size. The June bug is 3/4 of an inch long and the Japanese Beetle is much smaller at about 5/16 of an inch. Judging from the sound you are describing, you have the larger critter, the June Bug.
They are benign/harmless. Back in the 60s it was common for school kids to tie a short piece of thread as a leash secured by lightly going around the abdomen/thorax joint and wear these pretty bugs as animated jewelry in school.
As long as it's a small bug, don't worry. If it's a big bug, however...
The best way to use those bags is to put it on the far back corner of your neighbor's yard, as far away from yours as possible.
While they indeed work, they're actually not recommended because of their successful attraction of the beetles. Those that are attracted to your yard that don't end up in the bag will end up on all your plants, mating and eating.......
I can live with that as long as you don’t eat my flowers.
And has the white dots along the outer edge of its carapace......
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