Pest damage on our beautiful rose blooms rankles deeply, but it motivates us to take the appropriate actions to put the culprits to rest. There are two pest beetles that are annual “regulars” in our ...

After writing about the fig beetle – a shiny green scarab beetle that feeds on overripe fruit and decomposing organic matter – I received the following email from Elizabeth Russell, who gardens in ...

Q: Since there are so many fig beetles this year, I wonder if I need to treat the soil with nematodes to stop the larvae from eating my vegetable roots. What do you advise? A: The fig beetle (Cotinus ...

Q: When turning my compost pile, I uncovered a number of big, fat grubs. They were about the size of my thumb! Are they harmful? A: These are most likely the larvae of fig beetles (Cotinis mutabilis).

During the heatwave, I spread a layer of mulch over my backyard in preparation for fruit tree planting and by the next day found a number of dead, shiny green beetles on top of the mulch. These were ...