The adult is about 1 inch long, 1/2 inch wide and flat on the top. These beetles are dull velvety green above with deep yellow to bronze margins, and metallic green below. The grubs or larva are grayish white and will coil tightly when disturbed. This beetle has metallic and fluorescent markings on the legs, side of body and near the shell that covers the wings. The antenna of scarab beetles is very distinctive each with the last 3-4 segments lamellate (platelike) with the segments expanded laterally into oval or elongate lobes that can be closed tightly. Scarab beetles are also stout and heavy bodied, oval to elongate.
This beetle is active during the day. Adult green June beetles feed on the foliage of many shrubs and trees and will occasionally attack most tree fruits and berries. They feed on pollen, nectar, fruit and fluid from plant wounds. Grubs overwinter up to a foot or more below the soil surface. They gradually make their way close to the surface during the spring, and feed mainly on decaying plant matter and to a lesser degree on roots. Eggs are laid in soil with decaying vegetation.
One generation of adults matures each year. The grubs pupate by May and adults emerge in early July and August. June beetles can potentially cause a lot of damage to the trees and shrubs they eat.
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