Adults feed on the foliage at night and hide during the day in debris and loose soil under host plants. Severe injury to Taxus occurs in northeastern Ohio at nurseries, sometimes with hundreds of Taxus plants killed by root feeding larvae after growing to the stage where they were sold for landscaping purposes. Injury occurs on rhododendrons and azaleas primarily by adult foliage feeding and by larval feeding on the crown and roots. Other hosts include grape, strawberry, blackberry, blueberry, cranberry, etc. Although a major pest of woody ornamentals in commercial nurseries, they cause occasional injury in greenhouses where Taxus plants are being propagated by both adults and larvae.
Beetles can crawl into houses and other structures, causing alarm by homeowners.
They are black, shiny, without scales and with coarse, strial punctures on the wing covers. Adults are common on fruit trees in June. It has not been a serious pest of strawberries in Ohio, but may occasionally enter residences for hibernation. Adults feed at night and hide during the day. No males have been found.