Japanese Beetle
Popillia japonica
When startled, Japanese beetles will drop straight down from plants instead of flying away, utilizing gravity as a quick escape mechanism.
- Scientific name
- Popillia japonica
- Taxonomy
- Animalia › Arthropoda › Insecta › Coleoptera › Scarabaeidae › Popillia
- IUCN Red List status
- Least Concern
- Population trend
- increasing
- Biome
- urban
- Habitat
- Suburban gardens, lawns, golf courses, agricultural fields, and deciduous woodland edges.
- Diet
- Generalist herbivore; adults feed on the leaves, flowers, and fruit of over 300 plant species, while larvae feed on the roots of grasses.
- Range
- Japan, North America, Europe
- Size
- 8 to 11 mm (0.3 to 0.4 inches) in length
- Lifespan
- 1 year
- Active
- diurnal
- Threats
- Targeted eradication efforts, pesticides, biological control agents, and extreme winter freezes.
- Safe to approach?
- Harmless to humans. They do not bite, sting, or carry venom. You can safely observe or handle them. Because they are highly invasive pests in many regions, gardeners often hand-pick them and drop them into soapy water to protect local flora.
The Japanese beetle ( Popillia japonica ) is a common species of beetle. It is about 15 mm (0.6 in) long and 10 mm (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 noted pest of about 200 species of plants including rose bushes, grapes, hops, canna, crape myrtles, birch trees, linden trees, and others.
Photo: bgirardot, CC0, via iNaturalist
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