It's National June Bug Day!

As many of us spend our evenings relaxing outside this summer, we may receive all-too-frequent visits from the clumsy little Junebug. These inch-long beetles buzz about the night sky running into walls, getting in your hair, and doing just about anything they can to get to that oh-so-inviting porch light you have turned on.



Photo: Patrick Coin

 Named as they are because of the time of year they become most common, Junebugs are actually any one of over 260 species of New World scarab beetles (phyllophaga) that emerge from the ground (where they’ve been living as larvae for the past three years) every spring to look for food and a mate.

They might not be the cutest little creatures around; but relax, they’re harmless. Junebugs feed almost exclusively on tree leaves, and they don’t bite or sting. If you like to spend your summer evenings in the backyard, simply turning off any outside lights will cut down on the intrusion, as Junebugs are attracted to just about any light source. And if the buzzing gets to be too much for you, just remember that these little critters are only looking for love!

"J" is for Junebug

Ah, June. Glorious time of year. The days are getting longer and warmer; the soft twilight is full of insect song and the perfume of flowers. I love to sit on my porch and watch the day change to darkness. The swallows grab a last beak full of bugs and head for their roosts in the rock wall. The owls start a chorus of questions from the stand of trees across the road and the bats flit about after the moths and mosquitoes. *contented sigh* All is right with the world.

Until the beetles come out.

Junebugs, aka May Beetles, aka Green June Beetles (real creative naming going on with these guys) are indigenous to North America. They start life as underground larvae and stay underground, rising each spring to the root system of your lawn or crops where they will feed. Come the fall they burrow deeper into the earth and over-winter. This is a 3-year cycle. When the larvae reach their third spring, they will have pupated into the beetles we recognize. The beetle is a bit shorter than 1 inch in length and encased in a hard brown, black, or dark green shell. It is a true beetle and capable of flight. Although nocturnal, the male junebugs in particular are drawn to light. They swarm my porch lights, ricocheting from the ceiling, falling on my head, on my book, in my drink. *ick* As adults, Junebugs do not cause near the damage to plants that they cause in the larval stage. As adults, they are merely annoying. This stage of their life will be brief as they have only emerged from the ground to feed, and mate and die.

Maybe if I keep my porch lights off, they can get on with their evening activities and I can get on with mine.

Junebug photograph provided by Jim Occi