Grapevine Beetle, Spotted June Beetle, Spotted Pelidnota (Pelidnota punctata)

Order: Coleoptera (ko-lee-OP-ter-a) (Info) Family: Scarabaeidae Genus: Pelidnota Species: punctata Profile: 3 positives 6 neutrals 1 negative Regional... This bug has been reportedly found in the following regions: Washington D.c., Bear, Delaware New Lenox, Illinois Oak Lawn, Illinois Petersburg, Illinois Rock Falls, Illinois Washington, Illinois Galveston, Indiana Granger, Indiana Davenport, Iowa Des Moines, Iowa Dubuque, Iowa Tipton, Iowa Benton, Kentucky Millersville, Maryland Southbridge, Massachusetts Detroit, Michigan Farmington, Michigan Stephenson, Michigan Savage, Minnesota Cole Camp, Missouri Palenville, New York Charlotte, North Carolina Bucyrus, Ohio Columbus, Ohio Glouster, Ohio Whitehall, Pennsylvania Spurgeon, Tennessee Menasha, Wisconsin Member Notes: Rating Author Comment Neutral melody On Jun 16, 2007, melody from Benton, KY (Zone 7a) wrote: This is a hard call as far as positive or negative...the adults feed on grapevines and possibly the fruit...thus, making them a pest...the larvae feed on decaying wood and stumps, making them a useful creature. This golden-yellow Scarab is found throughout eastern North America...south to FL. , and west to Nebraska. Found mainly in deciduous forests and surrounding areas. Adults are attracted to lights at night. They are most often seen May through August. One of the many May/June Bugs found in this part of the country. Neutral figaro52 On Jun 26, 2007, figaro52 from Oak Lawn, IL (Zone 5a) wrote: I found one of these today on the screen of my garage window. I'd never seen one before and was wondering if this is the critter that's been trying to eat my plants. I'm relieved to learn that he is not my culprit. Some nearby neighbors have a grape arbor. Neutral thesagewizard On Jul 15, 2007, thesagewizard from Tipton, IA (Zone 5a) wrote: I've noticed this beetle on our window screens at night several times. We have wild grape vines in the pasture, not sure if that's where it's coming from. Dug one up when taking out an old stump. So far, never observed it doing damage to any plants. Positive bchaney On Aug 5, 2008, bchaney from Sterling, IL wrote: Saw one of these today. It was rather large, about 1.5" long. I noticed it right away because of it's spots, and sheer size. I've never seen one of these before, however the small brown "June bugs" (no spots) are common here. I'm not aware of any grape vines in the immediate vicinity. Date: August 4, 2008 Time: 18:30 City: Davenport, IA Weather: mostly sunny - around 92 degrees - high humidity Negative dovey On Jun 27, 2009, dovey from Columbus, OH (Zone 5b) wrote: I found this huge beetle on a climbing rose... I'm not at all happy to have another critter gnawing on my roses! Neutral Ithiel On Aug 14, 2010, Ithiel from Detroit, MI (Zone 6b) wrote: My next door neighbor grows masses of grapes, so these are a common sight in my neighborhood. I never actually made the connection until this year, though. Go figure. Positive DrowningMermaid On Jul 1, 2011, DrowningMermaid from Petersburg, IL wrote: I don't have any grapevines, but read that the larvae eat rotting wood (which I have lots of). Surprising to see him - it's my first time with one of these. It was missing a portion of leg, so I took it indoors to photograph it and forgot him for near two days. I thought it had died, but when I took it out of the shallow cup I had kept him in, it livened back up and was crawling all over me. Not vicious at all and very interesting to look at. I sent it back outside to live peacefully. Positive sandilpn On Jul 14, 2011, sandilpn from Des Moines, IA (Zone 4b) wrote: I was excited and a little fearful of this bug at first. But when the flash went off, I figured he must not be a crazy bug like the "june" beetles that I'm used to that are about 1/3-1/4 this guys size. If I ever see this guy again, I will put him in a bug cage to study him a bit more. Awesome looking guy! My daughter will love looking at him. If I kept him in a wire cage, do I just need to give him grape leaves to eat until I release him? It would only be a day or two. Neutral sallyg On Jun 21, 2012, sallyg from Anne Arundel,, MD (Zone 7a) wrote: We just found three while breaking up a rotting length of maple trunk (tree was cut five years ago and laid at the edge of the yard.) Pretty cool beetles- they seemed to have just finished pupation and were very soft but had the distinctive spots. We do have wild grapevines nearby. Neutral Barb_J On Jul 7, 2012, Barb_J from Southbridge, MA wrote: My son found this on our porch tonight. Used to seeing dobeson flies as we live beside a river....but it was a grapevine beetle instead. There's been alot of these in this area this WEEK! Do they migrate? This one was a good inch long if not a bit more. We let it go after a short NO FLASH photo shoot. There are woods out back as well with several fallen trees from a tornado that came thru here June 1 2011.

By melody By melody By bigcityal By Gabrielle By Gabrielle By djgray By kropit There are a total of 18 photos. Click here to view them all!