# Large Flying Night Critters



## smrf1080 (Apr 16, 2012)

Well I'm going to answer my own post with speculation that they are June Bugs, Great!! Do they bite and are they potentially dangerous for pets??

Can anyone confirm they are June bugs, and how the hell do you get rid of them???


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## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

There harmless to people and pets.
http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/plant-problems/pests/june-bug-beetles.htm


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## ddawg16 (Aug 15, 2011)

Yep.....June bugs......In May....

Most kids have fun letting them crawl on their hands......

I have not figured out their purpose in the great cycle of life.....sort of like the cricket.....they exist for a short time...make a mess of the ground with their dead bodies....and then................nothing....until next year.


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## BigJim (Sep 2, 2008)

Those aren't June Bugs, they are not green from what I see. We have that type bug around here, don't know what they are but they don't hurt anything, just a pest.


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## ddawg16 (Aug 15, 2011)

BigJim said:


> Those aren't June Bugs, they are not green from what I see. We have that type bug around here, don't know what they are but they don't hurt anything, just a pest.


I grew up in Texas and we have always called them June Bugs....

Learn something every day.....

So....what are they?


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## Blondesense (Sep 23, 2008)

Grew up in Illinois and we always called them June bugs too.


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## BigJim (Sep 2, 2008)

Yep, that is the ones I was talking about in that picture Dawg posted, they aren't the shape of the green June Bugs I was talking about. We didn't call the brown one there a June Bug.


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## ddawg16 (Aug 15, 2011)

As long as it doesn't look like this, I'm ok.


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## DexterII (Jul 14, 2010)

Jim, I think the green ones are snipe larvae.


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## concretemasonry (Oct 10, 2006)

Dexter -

The snipe reportedly feed on the Grunion on the beaches. Grunion hunts are also great since the beaches in CA are warm at night.


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## smrf1080 (Apr 16, 2012)

When I came out of my house this morning there were shells all over the place from them I assume.

Must be hundreds, where do they all go during the day???


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## ddawg16 (Aug 15, 2011)

smrf.....you should be in Texas when the have the crickets. I've seen them so thick where a parking lot of concrete looks black.....where it's impossible to walk from your car to the store without stepping on a few thousand along the way.


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## Indepspirit (Apr 30, 2014)

smrf1080 said:


> When I came out of my house this morning there were shells all over the place from them I assume.
> 
> Must be hundreds, where do they all go during the day???


They like to hide in trees during the day.


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## concretemasonry (Oct 10, 2006)

Almost like our annual "may fly" season where the one day wonders, hatch, learn to fly and breed in a day or two. They then die and some river bridges get temporarily closed when the critters get attracted by the lights and die on the roads (2 to 4 inches deep). - They just use snow plows to send them (one long bridge in particular) back down into the Mississippi river where they came from. Usually, the bridge is temporarily closed for a couple of hours a morning or two.

Dick


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## r0ckstarr (Jan 8, 2013)

Here's a better pic to show what a June Bug looks like. This one was at my house.

June Bug by r0ckstarr2, on Flickr


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## BigJim (Sep 2, 2008)

That is not what we call a June bug here our June bugs are different shape and are green.
http://www.americaninsects.net/b/dz13-cotinis-nitida.jpg


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## DH558 (Dec 8, 2013)

Have you considered anti-aircraft artillery? I would guess that a 40mm Bofor cannon would work great against those rotten pests!


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## r0ckstarr (Jan 8, 2013)

To the OP. If they continue to be a problem, turn your porch light off 10mins before you take your dog out. 



BigJim said:


> That is not what we call a June bug here our June bugs are different shape and are green.
> http://www.americaninsects.net/b/dz13-cotinis-nitida.jpg


Yeah, those are definitely different.


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## clashley (Nov 24, 2009)

We get those in Southern GA (the big brown beetles). We call them June bugs. A blacklight bug zapper gets their attention more readily than a porch light, so I have one in the backyard that stays on dusk-to-dawn during the summer months. Seems to control the nuisance factor.


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## PoleCat (Sep 2, 2009)

BigJim said:


> That is not what we call a June bug here our June bugs are different shape and are green.
> http://www.americaninsects.net/b/dz13-cotinis-nitida.jpg


Those are Japanese beetles you have. Both lay their eggs in lawns and produce grubs that dine on grass roots.


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## BigJim (Sep 2, 2008)

I got curious and looked up different types of June Bugs, y'all are right and so am I, there are different types of June Bugs. I sure didn't know there was until now, we have always just called the green ones June Bugs, never too old to learn something new.


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## BigJim (Sep 2, 2008)

PC here is a photo and an article of the differences between a Green June Bug and a Japanese Beetle.

http://www.homesteadgardens.com/japanese-beetle-green-june-bug/


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## PoleCat (Sep 2, 2009)

That's a new one for me too. I have always figured there was only one June bug and it was brown and shaped like a peanut. Your big green June bugs don't come around here. Our Jap beetles are more metallic looking too.


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## r0ckstarr (Jan 8, 2013)

This thread has turned out to be very informative. Thanks for all of the links.


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## Maintenance 6 (Feb 26, 2008)

Pennsylvania has the brown June bugs and the metallic looking Japanese beetles. Japanese beetles eat plants and are destructive. June bugs are attracted to the porch light and fall on their backs on the porch. Not sure what they eat, but they are just a nuisance more than anything.


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## ddawg16 (Aug 15, 2011)

So...the next question is.....

Why do they call them June bugs when the come out in May?


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## Indepspirit (Apr 30, 2014)

Because the adults peak flights occur in middle to late June. Although in some places they don't shop up until July.


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