A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion Plant pests and problems What is this bug?

I've found several of these guys in my small backyard garden:

http://xs.to/xs.php?h=xs840&d=09242&f=bug595.jpg

They resemble Colorado beetles, but are smaller (about 5-7mm) and instead of long brown stripes have brown spots on their backs.

One of them was sitting on a grape leaf and I am pretty sure it was eating it!

Who are these and how much should I be concerned?

I am in central Virginia.

Thanks!

is that a flea beetle. If it is, it was probably eating your foliage. At any rate get rid of it. Maybe spray with soap.

Offhand, I wonder if it is a japanese beetle. I've not seen one in my area, but in some states they are terribly destructive.
The flea beetles I've seen were mostly smaller, and I doubt they're as destructive.
I'd be inclined to use a hose end sprayer and spray evrything with insecticidal soap, and if the numbers do't appear to fall within a week, try a botanical pyrethrin.

I did an image search for flea beetles and japanese beetles, and I don't think this is any of those. It's definitely not a flea beetle: it has a different "build".

It does remind the japanese beetle in terms of build, but the color looks very different. Japanese beetles seem to have a bronze or copper-colored back and a green thorax, while my guy is light brown with dark spots.

Any other thoughts?

andrei, that pic isn't coming up for me anymore. I should have thought to offer you this site to explore, someone posted it just lately and it is excellent.
http://bugguide.net/node/view/15740
If you track it down, please let us know!

Sorry about the picture - that hosting site turned out to be pretty unreliable.

Another forum has since helped me identify this bug: it's called an oriental beetle.

Thanks.