Pest of the Month August 2011 – Chinese Rose Beetle

  •  Distribution:  Originally from Japan and Taiwan.  Widespread through southeast Asia and Pacific Islands
  • Hosts: Over 250 plants.  Wide variety o f ornamentals and cultivated crops.
  • Damage: Lace-like or shot with holes appearance on leaves caused by adults
  • Management:  Insignificant biological control.  Green muscardine fungus destroys many larvae and adults during wet season.  Pesticides not noted.
  • Per AAA President Steve Connolly, these pests feed at night.  One way to prevent damage is to shine lights on trees at night. 

Source: Adoretus sinicus (Burmeister), Chinese Rose Beetle, by Ronald F.L. Mau and Jayma L. Martin Kessing, University of Hawaii Department of Entomology, Crop Knowledge Master, March 1991. 

Chinese rose beetle on cacao. Photo by Dr. Scot Nelson, UH CTAHR.