Family: Scarabaeidae, Scarab Beetles view all from this family

Description 3/4-7/8" (20-23 mm). Robust, elongate, somewhat flattened. Head dark, with a horn. Pronotum and elytra are metallic green, with brownish yellow on the sides; the underside is glittery green and brownish yellow. Tibiae green; femora are brownish yellow. Larva, to 2" (50 mm), is yellowish white with brown head.

Food Adult drinks pollen from open flowers, such as hollyhock, and devours ripening fruits, especially peaches, and the foliage and fruits of many trees and shrubs. Larva eats roots of grasses, alfalfa, vegetables, tobacco, ornamental plants, and many other plants.

Life Cycle Grayish, spherical eggs are laid in soil with high organic content. Larvae often emerge after a prolonged rain, crawl on their backs over soil or through sod, and overwinter deep in soil. Larvae develop in earthen cells near soil surface and pupate in the late spring of the 2nd year after hatching. Adults emerge June-July. 1 generation a year.

Habitat Gardens, orchards, open woods, and crop fields, particularly above sandy soil.

Range New York to Florida and Gulf states, north to Missouri.

Discussion Adults fly noisily in search of food. This beetle is often an agricultural pest because its larvae destroy the roots of valuable plants, especially tobacco.