Getting rid of June bugs mostly happens in your lawn, not on your porch. The beetles you see in early summer grew up as grubs in the soil, so treating the grubs at the right time is what cuts next year's numbers. The adults are a nuisance for a few weeks and are best handled by changing your lights. One complication: in the Carolinas and Virginia, "June bug" means two different beetles, and their grubs behave very differently. This guide shows you which one you have, how to check your lawn for grubs, when treatment is worth it, and what to do about the adults.
To get rid of June bugs: dig up a square foot of lawn and count the grubs. Clemson Extension says treatment is usually worth it at 4 to 5 May/June beetle grubs per square foot. Treat young grubs in summer, when they're small and easy to kill. For the adults, turn off porch lights you don't need and pick ripe fruit promptly.
Good to know: green June beetle grubs rarely eat enough grass roots to cause real damage, Penn State says. Their mounds and holes are mostly cosmetic. And June bugs don't bite.
Which June Bug Do You Have?
| Brown May/June beetle | Green June beetle | |
|---|---|---|
| Looks like | Shiny reddish-brown, about 1/2 to 1 inch | Velvety green with tan or orange edges, 3/4 to 1 inch, metallic green underneath |
| When you see it | At night, battering porch lights and screens | In the daytime, swarming low over the lawn with a loud buzz |
| Adults eat | Tree and shrub leaves | Ripe and overripe fruit: peaches, plums, grapes |
| Grubs eat | Grass roots | Mostly decaying organic matter; they rarely eat enough roots to cause real damage (Penn State) |
| Lawn damage | Brown patches where roots are eaten; turf lifts like carpet | Small mounds of soil and thumb-sized holes |
| Life cycle | Usually 2 to 3 years (Clemson) | 1 year (Clemson, Penn State) |
That's why people disagree about June bugs: someone with brown beetles at the porch light and someone with green beetles swarming the lawn at 10 a.m. are dealing with different insects. Penn State notes that green June beetle females fly over the grass early in the morning and males from mid- to late morning, looking for mates. On a YouTube video about June beetles, one viewer asked what was "flying around late morning into the early afternoon" when they'd also find June bugs "dead on my porch pretty much every morning." Both answers are in the table: the morning flyers are green June beetles, and the dead ones by the door are usually the brown night flyers drawn to the light.
Step 1: Check Your Lawn for Grubs
Don't treat until you know grubs are there. Penn State's method: cut out a piece of turf about 1 square foot and 2 to 4 inches deep with a shovel, sift through the soil, and count the grubs. Check a few spots, especially brown or spongy areas. Then put the turf back and water it.
- Signs worth checking: turf that peels back like loose carpet, brown patches that don't green up with water, birds, skunks or armadillos digging, and small mounds of loose soil.
- Not every mound is a grub. Penn State points out that earthworms also leave mounds. Earthworm castings are made of distinct pellets.
- Green June beetle grubs come to the surface. After rain, Penn State says, they can end up on sidewalks, in garages and in swimming pools.
On Reddit (via Google search excerpts), a homeowner in r/lawncare whose lawn was being torn up every summer and fall by digging animals was told to treat the grubs: once they're gone, "the animals will stop digging."
Step 2: Treat the Grubs, If You Need To
For brown May/June beetle grubs, Clemson says the usual treatment threshold is 4 to 5 grubs per square foot, and that more than 7 per square foot can destroy the roots completely. Cornell puts the threshold at 3 to 4. Below that, a healthy, watered lawn usually outgrows the damage.
Timing matters most. Clemson says to aim controls at young grubs (the first and second stages) because they're easier to kill and do less damage. There are two approaches:
- Preventive products are applied before or around egg hatch. The grass takes up the insecticide, and grubs hatching that summer die when they feed (Clemson). On Reddit (via Google search excerpts), a top answer in r/lawncare put it simply: preventers "work best in late June because that's when grubs are small and easier to kill."
- Curative products kill grubs already present and are used in late summer or early fall. Penn State warns that a curative treatment for green June beetle grubs can leave dead, smelly grubs on the surface, and suggests applying late in the day, when grubs come up.
Follow the product label, water it in as directed, and keep children and pets off the lawn until the label says it's safe. Spring treatment works poorly: by then, grubs are large and harder to kill.
Biological options: Clemson and Penn State list beneficial nematodes (Heterorhabditis and Steinernema species) that infect and kill grubs. They're living organisms with a short shelf life, so check the date and water them in right away. Clemson notes that milky spore disease is safe for other lawn life but its results are "highly variable."
Step 3: Deal With the Adults
- Cut back on lights. Brown June beetles fly to lights at night. A 2024 study in Nature Communications found flying insects tilt their backs toward a light source and get trapped circling it. Turn off porch and landscape lights you don't need, and close blinds at night so indoor light doesn't draw them to windows. On Reddit (via Google search excerpts), one r/pestcontrol answer to "getting rid of June bugs" was simply: "Turn your porch lights off."
- Pick fruit as it ripens. Clemson notes that green June beetles feed on overripe fruit and can cluster on a ripe peach or plum. Harvest promptly and pick up fallen fruit.
- Hand-pick or knock them into soapy water if a few are on a favorite plant. The adult season is short: Clemson puts green June beetle adults at mid- to late June through early August.
- Remember they came from somewhere else, too. On r/lawncare (via Google search excerpts), a reply to someone with June bugs at their door lights noted that the adults "move around," but that a lot of them does mean grubs in the lawn the next year.
Green June Beetle Mounds: Mostly Cosmetic
If your problem is small piles of soil and finger-sized holes rather than dead grass, you probably have green June beetle grubs. Penn State says the mounds are often 2 to 3 inches wide and the burrows 6 to 12 inches deep, but the grubs seldom eat enough roots to cause significant damage. Females prefer moist soil rich in organic matter. Penn State's advice is to keep the lawn healthy, overseed thin areas in the fall, and confirm the grubs are there before treating. University of Maryland researchers found that drought-stressed grass mowed very short suffers most from the mounding, so mowing a little higher helps.
Nature helps too. The blue-winged wasp hunts green June beetle grubs in the soil, paralyzes them and lays an egg on them, and Penn State says it's most common in August. If you see these wasps flying figure eights low over your lawn, they're working on your grubs.
For more on lawn wasps, see why you have so many wasps in your yard.
What Doesn't Work
- Spraying the adults. They fly in from surrounding yards, and new ones keep emerging for weeks. Insecticide on the beetles doesn't fix the grubs in the soil.
- Treating in spring. Grubs are large by then and hard to kill.
- Treating without checking. Many lawns with June bugs flying over them have too few grubs to matter.
- Homemade repellent sprays. Garlic and dish soap mixes get shared online, but we found no research showing they keep June bugs away.
Do June Bugs Bite?
No. June bugs don't bite or sting. Their spiny legs can feel sharp if one gets trapped in your clothes or hair, and the green ones buzz like bees, which is why people often think they've been stung. For the full answer, see do June bugs bite.
When to Act in the Carolinas and Virginia
| Time of year | What to do |
|---|---|
| Late spring to early summer | Adults emerge (Clemson: brown beetles May-June; green June beetles mid-late June to early August). Adjust lights, pick fruit. |
| Early summer | Check for grubs and apply a preventive product if you've had damage before. |
| Late summer to early fall | Check again. Treat young grubs if you're over the threshold. Overseed thin areas in fall. |
| Spring | Water and fertilize to help the lawn recover. Avoid spring grub treatments. |
If grubs or beetles keep coming back, our home pest control team covers South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia.
Key Takeaways
- "June bug" means two beetles: brown ones at night lights, and green ones swarming the lawn by day.
- Check before you treat: count grubs in a square foot of soil. Clemson's threshold is 4 to 5 per square foot for May/June beetle grubs.
- Treat young grubs in summer, not big grubs in spring.
- Green June beetle mounds are mostly cosmetic.
- For adults, turn off lights you don't need and pick ripe fruit.
- June bugs don't bite.
Frequently Asked Questions
Treat the source: the grubs in your lawn. Dig up a square foot of soil and count the grubs; Clemson Extension's treatment threshold is 4 to 5 May/June beetle grubs per square foot. Treat young grubs in summer with a labeled lawn product or beneficial nematodes. For the adults, turn off lights you don't need and pick ripe fruit promptly.
The June bugs at night are brown May/June beetles drawn to lights. Turn off porch and landscape lights you don't need and close blinds so indoor light doesn't reach the windows. Flying insects get trapped circling lights, so less light near doors means fewer beetles there.
Lawn insecticides labeled for grubs kill the larvae in the soil, and beneficial nematodes can too. Adults can be knocked into soapy water by hand. Spraying the adults doesn't solve much, because new beetles fly in from nearby yards and keep emerging for weeks.
Reduce what draws them: outdoor lights at night for the brown beetles, and ripe or fallen fruit for green June beetles. Keep the lawn healthy, and check for grubs each summer so you can treat before they build up.
Brown May/June beetles are drawn to lights at night. Green June beetles are drawn to ripe and overripe fruit such as peaches, plums and grapes, and their females lay eggs in moist soil rich in organic matter, according to Penn State.
Not to people: June bugs don't bite or sting. The harm is to lawns and fruit. Brown May/June beetle grubs eat grass roots, and Clemson says more than 7 per square foot can destroy the roots. Green June beetle grubs mostly make mounds, and the adults damage ripe fruit.
Adult green June beetles feed on ripe fruit; brown May/June beetles feed on leaves. Their grubs live in the soil: brown May/June beetle grubs eat grass roots, while green June beetle grubs eat mostly decaying organic matter.
When the grubs are young. Clemson says controls should target the first and second grub stages because they're easier to kill and cause less damage. That generally means summer for prevention, and late summer to early fall for curative treatment. Spring treatments work poorly because the grubs are large.
The adult season is short. Clemson says brown May/June beetles emerge in May and June, and green June beetle adults are around from mid- to late June through early August. Their grubs live in the soil much longer: one year for green June beetles and usually two to three years for brown May/June beetles.
Sources: Clemson Cooperative Extension HGIC, "White Grub Management in Turfgrass"; Penn State Extension, "Green June Beetle" (updated 2026); Cornell University CALS, Grub ID: May or June Beetles; NC State Extension Plant Disease and Insect Clinic, "June beetle time" (M. Bertone, 2016); NCpedia, "Junebugs"; S. Fabian et al., "Why flying insects gather at artificial light," Nature Communications 15 (2024); Reddit r/lawncare and r/pestcontrol (via Google search excerpts); YouTube comments under a June beetle video from Solutions Pest & Lawn.
Photo credits: Coveredinsevindust at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0; Ryan Hodnett, CC BY-SA 4.0; Clemson University, USDA Cooperative Extension Slide Series, Bugwood.org, CC BY 3.0; Christina Butler, CC BY 2.0; via Wikimedia Commons.