Life Cycle

Normally in India, adult beetles emerge from the soil during April-June in response to the first seasonal rains. The adult beetle lays its eggs in the ground during the summer. As the grubs hatch, they start feeding on the roots until cold weather drives them 2 to 8 inches deeper into the soil where they overwinter. When spring arrives, the grubs move up from the lower soil regions and resume feeding near the surface until they become mature and pupate from May through early June.

Nature Of Damage

• The white grub and adult feeds on the living roots and later adults feed on shrubs and the plants like neem growing near the fields.
• The young grubs after hatching in the soil head towards the roots and start feeding on them.
• Consequent to feeding, the plants show varying degree of yellowing.
• Some get wilted and ultimately die. Such affected plants easily collapse.
• The adult beetles strip the foliage of the shade trees, crop plants or any forest trees.
• The yield loss due to white grub attack on sugarcane is reported to be as high as 80-100 percent in affected clumps.
• The adults feed on the host trees remaining on borders of sugarcane crop