Scary scarab, or just another neighbor in the Community Kitchen Garden? One of our brave volunteers hosted this brief visit by a Grapevine Beetle (Pelidnota punctata), generating quite a bit of excitement from surrounding volunteers. Our approach to insects is: “Friend or foe? Magnitude of the threat? Any possible mitigants?”
The Grapevine Beetle adults will eat foliage, and the larvae will eat roots, but the threat is considered minor and no controls are generally necessary. We’ll be watching for any effects from the grubs.