The Variegated June Beetle (Polyphylla comes) is one of the Lined June Beetles in the Scarabeidae (scarab beetles) family and native to the Southern Appalachians in the eastern US. The adults are about one inch long and fly in the months of May through July. They are nocturnal and attracted to lights, thus can be caught with a light trap at night. The larvae live underground as white grubs and feed on roots.
Range: extending from southwestern Virginia south and west through the southern Blue Ridge to Mississippi and Louisiana, widespread in the mountains of North Carolina, and southwestern Virginia (Hoffman, 2006) Distribution map: see BugGuide
The life cycles of these beetles generally last three years in the cool mountain climate of the Appalachians but may be variable, with two years spent in the grub stage. After molting twice and burrowing, pupae transform to adults within three to four weeks within pupal cells during the winter of their second year. All stages may be found overwintering underground. The adults emerge in the next spring and mate and lay their eggs in short grass from May through July.
Polyphylla comes is part of a white grub complex consisting of three primary species (Phyllophaga anxia, Polyphaga fusca, and Polyphylla comes) that cause root damage and mortality in Fraser fir (Abies fraseri) Christmas tree plantations in the Southern Appalachians.
