Other Common Names
Fig-eater; Green June Bug
Identification
Overall size generally smaller than
mutabilis, but variable, averaging larger in the south and west.
(2)
Pygidium bicolored; basal portion green, apical portion testaceous.
Hind femora usually pale, distinctly lighter in color than remainder of leg.
elytral color variation (interesting but not diagnostic)
Food
Adults: sap, ripening soft-skinned fruit, incapable of chewing into solid foods despite contrary reports
(4); larvae: roots/rhizomes of many plants.
Life Cycle
Eggs spherical, grayish colored, laid in organic-rich soil. Larvae usually emerge after prolonged rain, crawl on their backs over soil or through sod, and overwinter deep in soil. The larvae develop in earthen cells near the surface and pupate in late spring the 2nd year after hatching. Adults emerge in June–July. One generation a year.
(5). Largely diurnal, but also comes to lights
(6)Remarks
The adults can often be seen in numbers flying just inches over turf.
species is of great economic importance as attested by the fact that in the last 10 years of publication of the Index of American Economic Entomology (Hawes and Cushman 1949-59) no less than 50 papers on
nitida are indexed.
(2)See Also
Goodrich's (1966) key to separating these similar spp:
Pygidium bicolored, apical portion testaceous, basal portion green; hind femora pale - nitida
Pygidium unicolorous; hind femora colored as the tibiae -
mutabilis (2)