June Bug (that’s Actually a Beetle)

It’s that time of year, the June Bugs are emerging again. It wouldn’t be a late-spring evening without June bugs flying clumsily around porch lights, crash-landing, lying on their backs and waving their legs helplessly because they are weak fliers. Though they chew plants, they cannot hurt people.

June beetles are commonly referred to as June bugs because the adult insects emerge from the soil in late May or early June, which likely explains why they're sometimes called May beetles as well. But often they will come out n April if there is a heavy rain.

June bugs belong to a large family of beetles called scarabs. As with other scarabs, they are oval, stout, and have clubbed antennae with segments that can press tightly together or can be fanned open like a feather. There are more than 400 species of May beetles (Phyllophaga spp.) in North America north of Mexico, including about 86 in eastern North America.

Adults eat plant leaves (the genus name, Phyllophaga, means “leaf eater”) and flowers.

Larvae (grubs) eat roots and decaying plant material in the soil. Grubs are pests of turfgrass, ornamentals, Christmas trees, cranberries, and certain vegetable and field crops. 

Often you will see the grub when digging in your yard or garden. You have a few choices. Put them back. Save them to feed the birds or chickens. Add them to a terrarium to watch them grow.

June bugs are a rich source of protein (40 to 50 per cent) and fat (seven to 18 per cent). Many wild animals such as skunks, raccoon and several bird species consume June bugs across all stages of their life cycle.

Historically, the Bear River people in northwestern California ate fire-roasted June bugs. Today, many people collect adult June bugs from lights or dig larvae from the soil for recipes. They crush them and bake them into biscuits, sprinkle them onto salads as “croutons of the sky,” a term coined by Jonathan Bobryk of Nova Scotia, or even fill cooked larvae with cheese and wrap them in bacon

If you are a brave soul, Food52 has a simple recipe for sauteed june bugs or Parmajune Thins or buy june bugs online.