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IPM Scouting in Stone Fruits

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Rose chafer - Macrodactylus subspinosis (F.)
IPM scouting in stone fruits > rose chafer
Rose chafer (RC) is typically found in areas with sandy soils where larvae are especially abundant, feeding on roots of grasses. Adults emerge from the soil in late May or early June and move to surrounding vegetation, including peach, to feed and mate. RC adults are the only injurious stage to stone fruits. Damage is often concentrated on orchard borders adjacent to grassy fields. Adults are gregarious, with several beetles often attacking a fruit and devouring it.

Monitoring and thresholds: Adult emergence can be monitored with attractant-baited traps. Begin inspecting fruit and leaves for signs of feeding as soon as the first beetles are captured. Focus sampling along orchard borders adjacent to grassy fields.
Rose chafer adult
Adults are about 20 mm in length, long-legged, slender, grayish yellow-brown to moderate reddish brown beetles. The body undersurface is black.
Rose chafer At left, foliar feeding damage. Below, feeding on the fruit by beetles creates fruit drop or damage called “catfacing.”
"Catfacing"
Additional information
This information was developed from A Pocket Guide for IPM Scouting in Stone Fruits by David Epstein, Larry J. Gut, Alan L. Jones and Kimberly Maxson-Stein. Purchase this in a pocket-sized guide for reference in the orchard from MSU Extension (publication E-2840).
The MSU IPM Program maintains this site as an access point to pest management information at MSU. The IPM Program is administered within the Department of Entomology, fueled by research from the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station, delivered to citizens through MSU Extension, and proud to be a part of Project GREEEN.
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Updated 7/24/07