What kind of beetle is this?

[thehopefulgardener]

Hello fellow gardeners and bug battlers.
I was out tilling my flower bed and found seversl of these beetles. They always seem to bombard us every year around June, so I figured they were June bugs but don't know. Does anyone know what they are, what kind of damage they do, and how to get rid of them?
I also have a severe problem with a rather large grub (gets up to a good inch and a half or two inches) that eats my grass off at the roots and I think it's responsible for killing my strawberries. I thought it was probably the grub of these beetles. Maybe one of you have delt with these nasty things before.
Here's a couple pictures of the beetle. They are about 1-11/2 inches long.
This is the underside.
[url=https://img132.imageshack.us/I/dscf0015al.jpg/][img]https://img132.imageshack.us/img132/829/dscf0015al.jpg[/img][/url]

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This is the topside.[url=https://img192.imageshack.us/I/dscf0014c.jpg/][img]https://img192.imageshack.us/img192/7638/dscf0014c.jpg[/img][/url]

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[Kisal]

I would say they are June beetles. There are a couple of hundred different species. I've seen green ones and bronze/copper ones, and there are pictures online of dark brown/black ones.

Milky spore, beneficial nematodes and Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) are all used to control June beetles and others in the same family.

[thehopefulgardener]

Kisal,thanks for the info. Sorry it took me so long to reply. What is milky spore and Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) and where do I get them?
Does anyone know what the grubs look like? I'm not sure if I'm battling one or two pests.

[Kisal]

I apologize. I should have included an image in my first response.

Google Images has a lot of pics of the grubs. I thought this one was good because they included the quarter for size comparison.

[img]https://turf.uark.edu/images/green%20june%20beetle%20burrowing%20copy.jpg[/img]

I'm pretty sure Milky Spore is available at most garden centers and plant nurseries, and even places like Lowe's. They'll likely have Bt, as well.

[rainbowgardener]

Milky spore is a naturally occuring bacterial disease specific to larvae, mostly of the Japanese beetle. It does not affect adult beetles.

Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is also a naturally occuring bacterial disease, which is larvicidal. Different varieties of Bt work against different insects, but there are Bts to control flies, mosquitos, wasps, beetles, nematodes, ants, various caterpillars, etc.

The fat white grubs that stay curled up in a circle in your lawn are usually japanese beetle larvae, but the June bug also has larvae that live under ground that look like this:

https://organicgardensite.com/bugs-harmful/june-bugs/

Home Depot advertises that it sells Bt and milky spore, though I don't remember seeing it at my local one. But garden stores or on-line.

[rainbowgardener]

Kisal and I were writing at the same time again! I believe her picture is of the Japanese beetle grub. The one I posted is of the June beetle grub, which seems to have more obvious legs...

[Kisal]

Rainbow got me curious about how to differentiate Japanese beetle grubs from June beetle grubs. Apparently, you have to examine the dark posterior end to make the determination.

The information and drawings can be found about 2/3 of the way down the page at this link:

https://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/insect/05601.html

[rainbowgardener]

But it may not matter since they are all bad. It doesn't look like there are any fat white lawn grubs that we would consider good guys.

Any I come across I throw on to the concrete patio where they can't dig themselves back in and where they rapidly become bird/critter food.

[Kisal]

But it may not matter since they are all bad. It doesn't look like there are any fat white lawn grubs that we would consider good guys.

I agree 100%!

[gixxerific]

OHHHHHHHHH! don't get me started. My lawn is going south fast due to my mass population of grubs.

[thehopefulgardener]

Thanks everyone for all the good information.
I checked out the links you gave me and I think that Milky Spore sounds like what I've been needing. It says I can even apply it to my food garden. Maybe I'll be able to grow strawberries after all.
It also says it will last 15-20 years. Anyone had that kind of results with it?
I'm still not quite sure what kind of grub I have, I'll have to exsamine the next one I find. If I can stand to, They are soooooo ugly!