Bug FAQGrapevine Beetle
Pelidnota punctata · Order: Coleoptera · Family: Scarabaeidae
Also called: Spotted June Beetle
Source: Wikipedia
Adult beetles are about 2.5-3 cm long and have a reddish-brown color with four black spots on each side and fine black lines on the wing edges. They live in eastern North America, especially in forests and thickets, and the adults appear in July. Adults feed on grapevine leaves and fruit, while larvae live in rotted wood and take two years to develop.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Fine black lines run along the edges of its wing covers.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Adults are typically about 2.5 cm long, occasionally reaching up to 3 cm.
Source: Wikipedia
Is it a pest in the house?
They are common in the northern and central U.S. and eastern Canada but usually cause little damage to grapevines. They can also be found in vineyards and garden settings.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
It is found in forests, thickets and woods throughout the eastern United States and Canada, especially in summer.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Adults eat the leaves and fruit of both wild and cultivated grapevines. Larvae live in soil and feed on decaying wood.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
Females lay eggs in rotten wood, stumps or soil near host plants; the larvae can grow up to two inches long. The species completes its development in two years, with adults emerging in July.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
Adults are most commonly seen in July.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
Its range extends from Ontario and Maine south to Florida and west to Texas and South Dakota.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
The species shows a lot of variation, and past taxonomic work split it into many names that are now considered synonyms.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 39 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Ohio, Illinois, Maryland, New York.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: native in North America; native in Canada; native in United States. Source: iNaturalist
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
Do grapevine beetles damage my vines?
Adults feed on grapevine leaves and fruit, but they normally cause only minor injury.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Scarabaeidae)
Japanese BeetlePopillia japonicaDamages trees, gardens or crops
Common Green June BeetleCotinis nitidaDamages trees, gardens or crops
Phyllophaga crinitaPhyllophaga crinitaDamages trees, gardens or crops
European Rose ChaferCetonia aurata
Mediterranean Spotted ChaferOxythyrea funestaDamages trees, gardens or crops
Oriental BeetleExomala orientalisDamages trees, gardens or cropsSources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelidnota_punctata
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-22 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.