noun

• A metallic green and copper chafer that is a pest of fruit and foliage as an adult and of grass roots as a larva. It is native to Japan but has spread elsewhere, notably eastern North America.

  Popillia japonica, family Scarabaeidae

  ‘Adult Japanese beetles have a metallic green head and thorax with coppery brown wing covers and five tufts of white hair on each side of the abdomen.’

  More example sentences

  • ‘The grubs that you see in the lawn are the larvae of Japanese beetles, June beetles, and chafers.’
  • ‘State and federal government agencies blanketed neighborhoods with poisons in an attempt to eradicate pests like gypsy moths and Japanese beetles.’
  • ‘Free-range chickens, turkeys and guineas will feed on ticks and other pests, such as grasshoppers, Japanese beetles and mosquitoes.’
  • ‘Adult Japanese beetles are voracious feeders, especially on sunny days, and seemingly indiscriminate.’