Rose chafers

An adult rose chafer is a moderate-sized insect, measuring between 5/16-inch to almost 1/2-inch in length. It’s a slender beetle, pale green to tan in color with reddish‑brown or orangish spiny legs. It has short, lamellate antennae, i.e. a series of flat plate- or page-like segments. A rose chafer sometimes resembles a wasp when it’s flying. The larval stage is called a grub and has a brown head and conspicuous legs. Like other grubs, it’s body is bent into a ‘C’ shape. Fully grown, a rose chafer larva is about 3/4-inch long. Rose chafer larvae are rarely, if ever, seen.
Damage: Adult rose chafers feed primarily on flower blossoms, especially roses and peonies, causing large, irregular holes. They also damage fruits particularly grape, raspberry, and strawberry. Rose chafer also feed on the foliage of many trees, shrubs and other plants, such as rose, grape, apple, cherry, and birch. Rose chafers typically damage leaves by eating the leaf tissue between the large veins, a type of injury known as skeletonizing.