---
title: "Asiatic Garden Beetle"
description: "Maladera formosae — Insects & spiders. Maladera formosae, commonly known as the Asiatic garden beetle and formerly known as Maladera castanea, is a species of beetle in the family Scarabaeidae."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/asiatic-garden-beetle
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Asiatic Garden Beetle

> Maladera formosae — Insects & spiders. Maladera formosae, commonly known as the Asiatic garden beetle and formerly known as Maladera castanea, is a species of beetle in the family Scarabaeidae.

- Scientific name: *Maladera formosae*
- Category: `insects` (Insects & spiders)
- Habitats: `urban` (Towns & gardens)
- iNaturalist observations: 11644
- iNaturalist taxon: [1260497](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/1260497)

## Names

- en: Asiatic Garden Beetle
- fr: Scarabée châtaigne

## Countries with the most observations

US (1976), CA (235), IN (36), JP (28), TW (14), CN (7), GE (5)

## Summary

Maladera formosae, commonly known as the Asiatic garden beetle and formerly known as Maladera castanea, is a species of beetle in the family Scarabaeidae. It is native to Japan, China, Taiwan, South Korea, North Korea, and Russia but was introduced to North America in the 1920s where it is considered a pest of turfs, gardens, and crop fields. Adults are active in the summer during which they can be found feeding on leaves and flowers or gathering around light sources at night.

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maladera_formosae

## Photo

![Asiatic Garden Beetle](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/asiatic-garden-beetle/medium.jpg)

Photo: Martyn Drabik-Hamshare · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/94208036

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/asiatic-garden-beetle?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).