@Ken, those beetles pictured are definitely green june beetles.

As with fig varieties, bug names can be pretty confusing--particularly if you're trying to use a common name to identify a particular species, since some species have several common names, and a single common name is often applied to multiple species. In this case, we're talking about a couple of closely-related green beetles that, to me at least, look essentially identical, but evidently the taxonomists can tell them apart:

@Ken, those are definitely beetles, definitely green, and definitely in the genus Cotinis ;) ;)

You're definitely 100% correct!

The Green June Beetle that ranges from the Great Lakes South to the Gulf of Mexico may be the ones we used to play with in VA the summers I was there with Mom.

noss

Yes Ken, those are the exact species I see here in KY ( We always called them "Junebugs"). They are also the same beetle my mother showed me a cool trick with when I was a kid.

You can actually tie a piece of thread to one of the rear legs of these guys. (This is usually a two person job since these dudes are amazingly strong for their size.) You can then let them go while holding the other end of the thread. It's kind of like flying a mini model plane on a tether. It was pretty fascinating to me as a kid and I'm sure it would entertain most any youngster today as well.

If you're gentle with the beetles they will live to fly another day once you're done "flying" them.

The things we did to ammuse ourselves when we were kids :-) ............

I know some of you guys are already thinking about showing this to your own kids or grandkids ;-) !

This is what a severe drought coupled with those figgin' leaf eating June bugs did to my once beautiful Flanders tree.

Dan
Semper Fi-cus

Yikes, Dan--I'm glad mine only seem interested in the fruit!

June "bugs" eat the fig leaves while June "beetles" eat the fig fruit.

I'm just happy I don't have those fig June beetles besides those fig souring "Fruit" beetles that are in my area too. I'd hate to have all three of those pests after my figs. Bad enough the birds are after them and now I have squirrels too. They cleaned out all of my IC's and are now after my Smith's and Robin's Sicilian Blacks. They didn't like my Hunts very much.

Dan
Semper Fi-cus

First thing - Ewwwwww

However good fish bait.  And I usually have a fly or two tied that imitates the beetles we have around here.

Speaking of around here, when I first moved to Nashville, I had to get used to the local names of many things, including beetles.  Growing up the June Bug was the ubiquitous brown June Beetle (Phyllophaga sp.)  However here they called what I knew as the June bug - Japanese beetle and the metallic green beetles- Cotinis nitida (usually Green June Beetle or Bug).  The other green metallic beetle Cotinis mutabilis (figeater beetle, fig beetle, crawly back, etc...) supposedly doesn't live here.  No telling what they would have called it! 

And yes, before anybody asks, I did have to look up the botanical names. 

Hi Bill,

When I was spending all summer in VA with Mom, the cousins and I would catch those same Junebugs and we'd tie sewing thread around their middle set of legs and "fly" them, too.  That was fun.

We'd then tie the end of the thread to something so they couldn't get away and we'd be able to "fly" them some more the next day.

We first made a slipknot in the thread so we could put that over that set of legs and then it would snug down around the legs.

noss

I had a gazillion last year, but not even one this year.  we had a particularly cold winter and an extremely dry year to date, so I'm thinking this has something to do with it.  There were so many Jap beetles last year, they took over one of my beehives.  I did plant Rue all around this year, but it can't possibly be the sole reason there have been no beetles to date.

Ken & noss. I had no doubts that there'd be others who would be familiar with that beetle "flying" trick ;) .

@coldsprings - What is Rue? 

Coldsprings,

I hope you're on to something with the Rue.  Wouldn't that be great if it would repel those beetles?  If they would repel sour fruit bugs that would be even better.

Now I'll have to google Rue and see just how it's grown and what manner of herb it is.

noss

My farm is certified organic, so I'm always looking for different ways to control insects.  After I had so much trouble with the beetles last year with the bees & my figs, I read somewhere about planting rue around to repel them (it's not an edible herb).  I don't want to give it credit for 100% effectiveness, but I followed up this year & it seems to have at least some degree of success.  I used pyrethrin (3%) to kill all the jap beetles last year as it is certified organic & kills everything.  It has no residual & is photo-sensitive, so if you want the best results, spray in the evening right before dark.

Be careful with the rue.  It's an interesting plant - it is not an edible herb in that it is not used for food.  It has, but rarely been used for flavoring.  It is usually used as a repellent and a medicine.  What to be careful about is ingesting large quantities - whatever that may be - it can make you sick.  I wouldn't try - it's pretty bitter anyways.  The other thing to be careful with is a sensitivity with the sap and other juices of the plant.  Can cause skin irritation and blistering.  I had a case of blistering one time getting sap on me after pruning a plant.  Nothing serious, but then I have tough skin - I can roll around in poison ivy and not get the rash. 

Dan, that was some serious damage to your Flanders tree. I'm sure glad they(Brown June bugs) are gone for now(here), whatever the reason. You have the same drought conditions as me, so I don't think the drought is the cause. The drought and heat has been hard on my trees this year. The watering I have done has kept the trees growing, but the figs on many of my trees are small or dried up. Others don't seem to be bothered. . The birds are the worst this year. Last evening there must have been 100 or more Mocking birds, Blackbirds and doves in my back yard eating figs, even on the netted trees. Probably their normal foods are in short supply because of the drought.

Ken, I saw one of those green beetles last summer on one of my trees--- first and only one I've ever seen. I thought it was beautiful, but I suspect you have another opinion of them.

No Tim, I totally agree with you that they're beautiful. But, it doesn't stop me from killing as many of them as I can. If I didn't have fruit trees, I would be very pleased to see them flying through my yard!

Ken I hope they are not colonizing here. Don't need anymore fig eaters,lol.

Just in the last few days, since the rain storms on the east, if you can call it that just north of Detroit.  I have seen a rather large influx of these beetles there were on one of my in ground figs i just shook them off, i just found them on basil as well but they were only so far eating calla lilies.