---
title: "Japanese Beetle"
description: "Popillia japonica — Insetos e aranhas. The Japanese beetle (Popillia japonica) is a species of scarab beetle."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/pt/animal/japanese-beetle
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Japanese Beetle

> Popillia japonica — Insetos e aranhas. The Japanese beetle (Popillia japonica) is a species of scarab beetle.

- Scientific name: *Popillia japonica*
- Category: `insects` (Insetos e aranhas)
- Habitats: `urban` (Cidades e jardins)
- iNaturalist observations: 87594
- Wikidata: [Q1683382](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1683382)
- iNaturalist taxon: [67760](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/67760)

## Names

- en: Japanese Beetle
- de: Japankäfer
- es: Escarabajo japonés
- fr: Scarabée japonais
- nl: Japanse kever

## Countries with the most observations

US (60003), CA (21613), IT (2615), JP (1029), PT (141), CH (116), IN (8), CN (4), RU (3)

## Summary

The Japanese beetle (Popillia japonica) is a species of scarab beetle. Due to the presence of natural predators, the Japanese beetle is not considered a pest in its native Japan. In North America and some regions of Europe, it is a noted pest to roughly 300 species of plants. Some of these plants include roses, grapes, hops, canna, crape myrtles, birch trees, linden trees, and others.
The adult beetles damage plants by skeletonizing the foliage (i.e., consuming only the material between a leaf's veins), as well as, at times, feeding on a plant's fruit. The subterranean larvae feed on the roots of grasses.

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

## Photo

![Japanese Beetle](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/japanese-beetle/medium.jpg)

Photo: Geoffrey Carter · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/92000429

## Machine access

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