You may have walked into your garden recently and found plant leaves decimated or flowers chewed. Itâs the season for Japanese beetles and, as you already may have noticed, they are voracious feeders.
Japanese beetles easily are recognized by their attractive, shiny emerald-green and copper color. They are about 7/16 of an inch long. If you look closely, youâll see patches of white hair on their sides.
The beetles have sharp, chewing mouth parts that allow them to grind up tender leaf tissue between the veins, leaving the leaves skeletonized and lacy. But they donât stop at leaves. They will shred flowers â youâve probably seen them buried into the blooms on your roses â and even eat fruit.