It is a shiny, metallic green beetle with coppery brown wing covers that extend almost to the tip of the abdomen. Small tufts of white hairs occur at the tip of the abdomen and along each side of the wing covers. Japanese beetle eggs are translucent white to cream and elliptical in shape. In just a few days, the egg is more spherical and has doubled in size. It has a yellow brown head and is about 26 millimeters long when mature.
Pupae are light brown, but they eventually develop a metallic green cast.
The Japanese beetle, first reported in North America in 1916, now occurs throughout most of the eastern United States. A special pathogen, milky spore disease, helped reduce the pest status of Japanese beetles after it was developed in the late 1930s. Recently Japanese beetles have become a troublesome pest once again. The grubs occur in lawns, golf courses, and pastures. They burrow through the soil and consume roots.