Reassessing life history characteristics of the Asiatic garden beetle, Maladera castanea, in Great Lakes agroecosystems

The Asiatic garden beetle, Maladera castanea, was unintentionally introduced to North America in New Jersey in 1921 and it quickly emerged as a pest of turfgrasses, ornamentals and vegetables. Infestations in these crops became sporadic.  However, starting in the mid-2000s in the Great Lakes region, Asiatic garden beetle grubs were reported heavily infesting seedling field corn.  Most of our information about Asiatic garden beetle dates to the 1930s in horticultural settings in New York and New Jersey.  Our objective has been to reassess the Asiatic garden beetle’s life history characteristics in field crop settings of the Great Lakes region of the Midwest.  The purpose of this infographic is to illustrate the Asiatic garden beetle life cycle, through the lens of our sampling efforts from 2017 to 2019, in row-crop agroecosystems of the Great Lakes region and provide insight into the biotic and abiotic factors that influence populations.