OREGON DEPARTMENT Biology and life cycle What can I do to help? For more information OF AGRICULTURE PEST ALERT The Japanese beetle has four life stages: egg, 1. Report insects that you suspect could be If you have questions, or would like to larva (or grub), pupa, and adult. A female Japanese beetle to Oregon Department of report a sighting of Japanese beetle, beetle lays 40 to 60 eggs during her lifetime. Agriculture (ODA). contact us: The eggs, creamy white in color, are buried 5-7.6 cm deep in the soil. The eggs develop for 2. Report any extensive beetle damage to Oregon Department of Agriculture two weeks and hatch during July and August. lawns, roses, grapes, fruits, or other trees Insect Pest Prevention & The grubs look like many other grubs found in and shrubs to ODA. Management Program the soil, with C-shaped bodies that are creamy 3. Cooperate with ODA survey staff when 635 Capitol St. NE white with dark posteriors. The grubs grow they request permission to place traps on Salem, OR 97301 quickly and by September are almost full-sized your property during the summer. (about 2.5 cm long). Grubs feed on the roots 503-986-4636 or 1-800-525-0137 4. Comply with quarantine regulations that of turf grasses and vegetable seedlings. During www.Oregon.gov/ODA/Plant/IPPM prohibit the movement of plants and soil the winter months they migrate deeper into from infested eastern states, unless the For questions or health concerns about the soil to overwinter. The following spring the material is certified by state agricultural grubs migrate up to the root zone to feed for pesticides used by ODA to control officials to be free of Japanese beetle or four to six weeks. Fully-grown grubs pupate in Japanese beetle: has been properly treated to eliminate any an earthen cell and remain as pupae for about www.bit.do/oha-jb beetle life stages. two to three weeks. Adults emerge from late For information on the 2016 infestation June to early August. The oval-shaped adult is bright metallic green with copper-colored in Portland: wing covers and is about 0.9 cm long and 0.6 www.japanesebeetlepdx.info cm wide. There are two tufts of white hair just Text by Kerri Schwarz and Chris Hedstrom. Images by behind the wing covers, the Oregon Department of Agriculture and OISC, except with five patches of adult JB on flower: Kevin D. Arvin, www.forestryimages. white hair along each org. Layout and Design by Chris Hedstrom. Japanese side of the abdomen. Revised 12/2016. Adults mate soon after Beetle emergence and live about 30 to 45 days. After mating, female IPPM beetles lay eggs in the A Major Pest of Specialty Crops soil to start the next Insect Pest Prevention & Management & Ornamental Plants generation.

An illustration depicting the life stages of Japanese beetle throughout the year. Japanese beetle: A major pest of plants How did the Japanese beetle spread? Why is the beetle a serious pest? Common host plants of Japanese beetle The Japanese beetle Japanese beetle adults are active flyers and The Japanese beetle can cause serious damage Adults • soybean (Popillia japonica) is a frequently fly short distances between plants. to nurseries, seedbeds, orchards, field crops, • oak (Quercus) (Glycine max) serious invasive insect The beetle is capable of flying up to five miles landscape plants, and garden plants. The adults • elm (Ulmus) • tomato (Solanum pest that threatens with the help of the wind. Natural spread typically skeletonize leaves, consume flowers, lycopersicum) Oregon and the by flying adults will gradually expand the and devour fruits. The upper canopy is often • maple (Acer) western U.S. Japanese beetle’s distribution in the U.S. Long distance defoliated first. Trees with extensive feeding • hops (Humulus • grape (Vitis) beetle adults feed expansion and new introductions are usually damage turn brown and become partially lupulus) on flowers, fruits, aided by commercial activities. Grubs are easily defoliated. • peach, cherry, • blueberries, apricot, plum and foliage of more transported long distances as hitchhikers on Japanese beetle grubs blackberries, (Prunus spp.) than 300 species shipments of plant material usually associated primarily feed on roots raspberries (Rubus of ornamental and Adult Japanese beetle with roots and soil. Adults may be carried in of turf and ornamentals, • apple (Malus) spp.) agricultural plants, planes, trains, or automobiles to uninfested but will also feed on • linden (Tilia) including roses, blueberries, and grape vines. areas. The Oregon Department of Agriculture roots of garden and Grubs The larvae (or grubs) attack roots of turf grass (ODA) routinely inspects cargo airplanes field crops such as corn, • rose (Rosa) Japanese beetle grub and other plants. Both adults and grubs cause arriving from infested areas during the adult beans, tomatoes, and • Zinnia spp. • roots of turf grass significant damage in the eastern U.S. Oregon flight season. Isolated infestations of the strawberries. Dense populations can kill large has a quarantine that regulates the import of Japanese beetle have been found in California, • Dahlia spp. • roots of areas of turf grass and seriously injure or kill ornamental plants plants from infested states. This quarantine Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Utah. other plants. • corn (Zea mays) helps to keep Japanese beetles from entering • Asparagus officinalis the state. The Japanese beetle is considered the single How did the beetle get to the US? most important turfgrass The Japanese beetle was first found in the US pest in the U.S. Sites with in a southern New Jersey nursery in 1916. large areas of turf such It was presumably introduced into the U.S. as parks, golf courses, in soil associated with plants imported from cemeteries, and businesses Japan. It subsequently spread throughout the Invasive insects have many pathways into Oregon. are at risk. It can also be a problem in residential eastern U.S. and is now present in Minnesota, Is the Japanese beetle in Oregon? Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, and all states east Japanese beetle trap lawns, gardens, fruit trees, of the Mississippi Annually, ODA places thousands of Japanese ornamental trees, and River except beetle traps around the state. In past years, shrubs. Oregon has extensive habitat suitable Florida and a few Japanese beetles have been found in for Japanese beetle survival and reproduction. Louisiana. It is Oregon. Through eradication efforts, ODA The Oregon Department of Agriculture has a serious plant works to prevent the establishment of a successfully eradicated several isolated Japanese pest and a threat permanent population. In Summer 2016, over beetle infestations in western Oregon. Newly to American 300 Japanese beetles were found in an area west infested states are subject to strict quarantines agriculture. of Portland, the largest number since ODA on agricultural and horticultural products to Japanese beetle range in 2009. began intensively surveying for this pest. prevent further spread of the pest. Japanese beetle damage by adults feeding on roses and by grubs feeding on turf (bottom right).