Oct 16, 4:16 PM EDT
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Oriental Beetle Plague Discovered in Indiana*

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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) -- A Plague of invasive beetles that's native
to Japan has been discovered in Indiana for the first time as the
plant-munching insect edges further into the Midwest.

Purdue University entomologist Doug Richmond said a graduate student
recently found an unusual beetle in Tippecanoe County and identified it
at a Purdue lab as an Oriental beetle.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture later confirmed that the insect found
in the Lafayette area was an Oriental beetle, Richmond said.

The beetles, which are similar in size to Japanese beetle, arrived in
the United States in the 1920s and have caused devastating infestations
across much of the Northeast.

To date, the insect has been found as far south as South Carolina. Until
its discovery in Indiana, the furthest west the species had been found
was Ohio.

Richmond said workers with the Purdue Plant and Pest Diagnostic
Laboratory will set traps next summer in Tippecanoe County to gauge the
extent of the beetle's populations in the area.

"We will be out setting traps and trying to gauge whether the Tippecanoe
County find was an isolated one or whether we have a larger
infestation," he said.

In the larval stage, the beetles feed on roots of turf grasses,
perennial plants, weeds, nursery stock and potted plants. After the
adult beetles emerge, they feed on flowers from May to August, favoring
the petals of daisies, phlox and petunias.