Japanese Beetle

About Japanese Beetle

Japanese beetles (Popillia japonica) are more of an ornamental plant pest than a turfgrass pest in their adult form — the iridescent green-and-copper beetles that skeletonize rose bushes, crepe myrtles, and other landscape plants in midsummer. But their larval stage is a white grub, and that is where they cause turf damage. Japanese beetle larvae feed on grass roots below the soil surface, contributing to the overall white grub population in Middle Tennessee lawns. The good news is that they are easy to control at the grub stage — the same preventive insecticide application that controls all white grubs handles Japanese beetle larvae as a side benefit. The chemistry we use is applied in early summer before grub damage becomes visible, while larvae are still small and feeding near the soil surface. If you wait until you see adult Japanese beetles feeding on your roses in July, the grub damage to your turf roots has already been done for the season. The adult beetles are a nuisance to ornamental plants but are not the turf concern — the underground larvae are. By the time adults emerge, the larval generation that damaged your lawn has already pupated. Japanese beetle grub control is included in the standard lawn care service plan, not sold as an add-on. The preventive application also controls fall armyworms, sod webworms, and other plant-feeding insects through the same novel bee-safe mode of action.

Japanese Beetle (Popillia japonica) is a turf pest commonly found in Middle Tennessee, including Columbia, Thompson's Station, Spring Hill, and the surrounding areas. This entry is part of our Turf Pests identification guide.

As lawn care and treatment specialists, we encounter Japanese Beetle regularly when servicing properties across the region. Proper identification is the first step toward effective pest management that protects both your turf and your landscape plantings.