As a kid, I remember not much annoyed my mother more than the presence of Japanese beetles in her garden. There was no way they were staying in her garden.

I think that they were the first beetle I learned to identify, because of her dislike of the beasts.

I attribute my love of gardening to her, but I will admit that while she had a very green thumb mine tends to be a little brown around the edges. When she would visit, she would always baby my plants that were sorely neglected.

This beetle, native to Japan, was first discovered in the United States in New Jersey in 1916.

Since then, the beetle has spread throughout most of the Eastern and Central United States. They are found in over 70 percent of the contiguous United States feeding on more than 300 ornamental and agricultural plants, spreading naturally or when people unknowingly move infested plants, sod or soil.

Shiny little bugs

Adult beetles have shiny, metallic-green bodies with bronze-colored outer wings. They have six small tufts of white hair along the sides and back of their bodies, right under the edges of their wings. They’re a little less than half an inch long. The males are usually slightly smaller than the females.

After a prolonged feeding period, females leave the plants, burrow about three inches into the ground to lay their eggs, and then return to feed again. This cycle is repeated until the female lays 40 to 60 eggs.

By midsummer, the eggs hatch, and the young grubs (larval stage) begin to feed.

When fully grown, each grub is about an inch long and lies in a curled position. It is easy to locate them because the grasses turn brown and are easily rolled back to see the grubs underneath.

In late autumn, grubs burrow four to eight inches deeper and remain inactive all winter. Then in early spring, they feed on tender roots again. Late spring, grubs change into pupae. About 2 weeks later, the pupae become adult beetles and emerge from the ground.

You’re most likely to see adults from late spring through midsummer and throughout every stage of development, they cause damage to grass and plants. It’s ironic that well-maintained, sunny lawns are the favored target.

Hungry critters

I learned quickly that the Japanese beetles were destructive pest.

My mother explained that in the soil grubs were gnawing on roots of grasses causing them to weaken and die. It was easier to see the damage to the leaves that the adults were causing. Large irregular shaped holes causing the leaves to resemble lace. My mother was on a mission to get rid of them, as quickly as possible, to save her roses.

As a librarian, she had access to information on how to get rid of these pests without resorting to insecticides. She was out for days with a bucket of hot soapy water and then sprinkled garlic powder on her plants. She worked in the U.S. Forest Service’s library for 35 years and she knew she had to get rid of them and not cause harm to the environment.

Copy cats

Some common look-alikes include the masked chafers, June beetles, and the six-spotted tiger beetle, which is a beneficial, predatory beetle that can be mistaken for the invasive Japanese beetle. The false Japanese beetle is the same size and shape as Japanese beetle, but the body is not metallic and there are no tufts of white hair.

Being an invasive species sometimes means there are no natural predators, but luckily many species of birds have been observed to eat these beetles including starlings, robins, cat birds and cardinals. Opossums, raccoons, skunks, moles, and shrews will eat beetle grubs, but they dig up lawns in the process.

The good news is all that has to be done is gently press the lawn down again after the feast.

Jeannie Carl is a naturalist at the Carbon County Environmental Education Center in Summit Hill. The center rehabilitates injured animals and educates the public on a variety of wildlife found in the area. For information on the Carbon County Environmental Center, visit www.carboneec.org.