After a little research, they may be June beetles - but are there 2 varieties? The ones that collect in my pool strainer (lovely) are the size of Japanese beetles but all copper colored, no green. These were much bigger, with both green & copper coloring.

hey, if a few mystery beetles is all you find in your pool skimmer consider yourself lucky. We usually get a daily assortment (varies) of spiders, crickets, palmetto bugs, frogs, toads, voles, mice....you name it....I'm never surprised anymore. This must be kept a secret though. If my 'love anything that breathes' wife had any idea how deadly our pool is to the neighborhood wildlife I'd probably have a large hole in the backyard to fill.

There are Green June Beetles and (regular) June beetles, which are the smaller tan ones. Talk about confusion! June bugs, they are often called. If you were to look up "June beetle" images, you'll probably come up with tons of pictures of BOTH of these insects.

I'm afraid that the grubs of both of these beetles can cause problems in the lawn, if you have a lot of them. Just like the Japanese Beetles, unfortunately. Plus, the Green June bug adult feeds on juicy fruit and veggies. I'm not real sure about the tan colored June bug adult. I'll have to keep my out for them this year, and watch what sort of trouble they cause.

Pool strainers are a great place to find neat 'bugs'!

Oh yeah, we get frogs, an occasional baby rabbit, in the pool strainer. My big issue right now is a lot of undesirable furry creatures on the property - voles, mice, rats. We back up to a creek, and there's a lot of overgrown vegetation around that I'm sure encourages them, but I have neither means nor time to get it all down in a hurry - it's a process! For now, we have a pest control perimeter service to keep them out of the house - not my ideal solution, but I just can't handle critters indoors. I'm planning on researching barrier plants (peppermint, daffodils, castor bean, etc.) and trying to work with those over time.

Growing up we always called the big green ones "June Bugs" and I don't recall the littler orange ones being around (in Virginia). Last year I was overrun with the orange guys; not so much this year.

I've never seen the orange ones do damage, but the big June bugs will certainly decimate your blackberry crop. I've even seen them crawl inside tomatoes although I don't know if they had help getting inside.

Drippy! One of the Green June Bugs showed up on our little back patio last night.....first one of the season.

The two beetles, green and orange (or brown), are two separate species and both are commonly called June bugs. The orange one is an invasive species from Europe.

Our June Beetles- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotinis_nitida

The little shiny brown ones- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_chafer

A third species, the Figeater beetle, is seen more in the southwestern United States, but it's possible somebody may have seen one here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Figeater_beetle

The real pest is the Japanese beetle
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_beetle

I've been chasing and squishing JBs, too. They love the cannas, but I've found at least one or two on nearly everything. I'm pretty diligent about policing them, as they also like my basil, and I'm pretty selfish with that. Ironically, they are leaving my four o'clocks and white geraniums, both of which are supposed to be trap crops for them, alone.

Seems to be bug season - in the last week or so I've seen quite a few more, different varieties. I haven't id'd them all, but beetle-like insects on my veggies don't last very long.

The ones I really hate are the BJBs, big juicy bugs. They make a mess of my windshield. Splat!

I've become a fan (over the past three years) of a product called 'Surround'. Its active ingredient is kaolin clay, and is formulated in a wettable powder which, when mixed with water, is applied as a spray.

The clay works as a barrier to leaf and fruit/veggie eating critters such as beetles, caterpillars, borers, grasshoppers, etc. It is also effective against aphids and other piercing sucking insects.

I use it on the few JB prone plants I have, spraying on a couple of layers, which lasts until those darned critters go away for the season. I've also used it in the veggie garden, where it can be used right up to harvest.

It does create a whitish film on the plants, which is not visually appealing. But wears off in time. Surround, by the way, is extremely popular with fruit and veggie growers, as it not only does a wonderful job at protecting their crops against a broad range of important pest species, but also reduces sun scalding and heat stress without hindering photosynthesis.

Don't spray it on flowers and use it wisely.

Good to know, Rhizo - is it certified organic? I guess I can research that myself, LOL. I am trying to reduce as much 'bad' stuff as possible. I have asked the pest control guys to skip treating one of my house borders that I am turning into an herb garden. I have a bit of spearmint planted there already, but if I start seeing mice in the house, I'm going to have to rethink things. I like the idea of having the herb garden close to the house, but not having it treated with pesticides regularly to keep the critters outside.

I'll look into this Surround; thanks for the tip!