I only have a quick question. Are June Bugs the adult corn borers?

Seems we do not have june bugs if we didn't have corn borers the year before. Now last year we had corn borers and this year we have HUGE june bugs. They don't bother me I'm just curious is all.

-- michelle (tsjheath@nci2.net), June 12, 2001

Answers

Nope, June bugs is just June bugs, they start coming out as soon as it gets slightly warm here, not sure WHAT they do eat, I don't see any damage to anything from them feeding here. They love to get tangled in your hair after dark here, more a nuisance than a real pest, sure make a racket banging against the screens though!

-- Annie Miller in SE OH (annie@1st.net), June 12, 2001.

This might sound really cruel, but as children, we used to attach a thread to a June bugs leg and let them fly around like a kite. Seemed funny at the time.

-- Dianne in Mass (dianne.bone@usa.net), June 12, 2001.

no I havent seen the meating anything i might want myself. Just a nusience is all.

-- michelle (tsjheath@nci2.net), June 12, 2001.

Just have to make a comment regarding Dianne's post - if you were cruel then so were we - I used to try to fly several June bug "kites" at once! And it was pretty fun! But Michelle - I've never heard that they were corn borers, don't really think so. Thanks, Cynthia

-- Cynthia Speer (farmsteader@gvtel.com), June 12, 2001.

Baby June bugs are grub worms. You may find them in mulch covered areas.

-- mary, in colorado (marylgarcia@aol.com), June 12, 2001.

About 4 years ago, our local fire department built a brand new fire department building just a 1/4 of a mile down the road from our house and made it all out of metal sheet tin. All that bright shinny metal attracted all the june bugs to it and they all died on the roof and around the footing. We haven't had june bugs here since, and it was always a ritual to see them here every summer.

-- Russell Hays (rhays@sstelco.com), June 13, 2001.

"June or May Beetles, Chafers, and Others. Subfamily melolonthinae. In this and the remaining subfamilies of scarabs the hind legs are situated at about midbody, closer to the middle hind egs than to tip of the abdomen. Melolonthines have the clypeus expanded laterally, usually concealing the mandibles and labrum, and the tarsal claws are of equal size and usually toothed or bifid. The best-known members of this group are probably the June beetles, or Junebugs, which are common at lights in early summer. There are over 100 N. American species, most belonging to the genus Phyllophaga. June beetle larvae are white grubs that feed in the soil on roots of grasses and other plants; when abundant they cause serious damage to lawns, pastures, and various crops. Adults feed on flowers and foliage of various trees and shrubs and are capable of completely defoliating them."

-Peterson's Field Guides, "Insects", Donald J. Borror/Richard E. White

So there ya have it folks....in the high-falutin' textbook language. In other words, them fat white grubs you dig over in your garden in spring. On a side note, they make excellent fish bait.

P.S....This field guide is a handy little book. Should be on your bookshelf next to the bird guide.

-Chelsea

-- Chelsea B. (rmbehr@istar.ca), June 13, 2001.

Having nothing better to do, I flipped through the Peterson's to look up corn borers. The adult stage is a moth. I shall spare you the longwinded passage from the book, mainly because it's late and my old eyes are having trouble following the print in a book that won't stay flat. I will, however, cut and paste a URL that all of you should bookmark, for it is a main page to many links of insects that are garden pests. There are many links leading to info on corn borers and many other bugs, beetles, and little things with voracious appetites that munch their way through our gardens in which we have sweated and toiled to produce our crops. Take a few minutes and have fun surfing through this one.

http://www.isis.vt.edu/~fanjun/text/Links.html

-- Chelsea (rmbehr@istar.ca), June 13, 2001.