Skip to main content

Mesa County has declared the Japanese Beetle a public nuisance and needs help from the community to ensure the local agriculture economy is not affected by the damaging pest. Here’s what to look for when identifying a Japanese Beetle. 

Adult Japanese Beetle

  • Has an oval form
  • About 7/16-inch in length
  • Generally metallic green with coppery-brown wing covers, which don’t quite cover the tip of the abdomen. 
  • Along the sides are five patches of whitish hairs. 
  • The antennae are clubbed at the end and may spread to a fan-like form.

Japanese Beetle Larvae (a type of white grub that feeds on the roots of grasses)

  • They have a creamy white body with a dark head and well-developed legs.
  • Usually, the body curves into a “C-shape.”
  • They are best distinguished from other white grubs by closely examining the pattern of hairs on the hind end of the abdomen, which forms a distinctive V-shape.

If you find what you think is a Japanese Beetle, you can get ahold of CSU Extension Services, 2775 Highway 50, and send them a picture or take it in for identification.

Photograph courtesy of David Shetlar, the Ohio State University.

Noxious Weed and Pest
News
Blog Post, Information, News
Japanese Beetle showed in six different stages of its life cycle on a blue background. From left to right: a tiny white egg, two small off-white C-shaped grubs, an adult beetle appearing in a white film, and an adult Japanese Beetle red/brown on the back with a metallic green head.