Temporal and spatial distribution of the Oriental beetle (Coleoptera : Scarabaeidae) in a golf course environment

The mating season of the oriental beetle, Exomala orientalis (Waterhouse), in 1994 and 1995 at Bethpage State Park, Farmingdale, NY (40 degrees 45' N, 73 degrees 28' W) began in the middle of June, peaked in the 1st wk of Jul y, and ended in the middle of August. There were differences in the emergen ce schedule among fairways as well as local differences between roughs and fairway. Both sexes were most active around sunset on shorter-cut turf (i.e ., fairways, greens, and, tees, versus roughs), and the few individuals see n during the day light hours were mostly males. These males were generally found perched on vegetation at the border of the fairway. Feeding was not o bserved, except on flowers by females devoid of mature eggs. This study con firms our observations on the pattern of activity in an earlier study condu cted with the use of synthetic pheromone traps. It also explains the diffic ulty encountered by earlier workers in finding adults of this insect in the field. Implications of the above findings on the management of the orienta l beetle are discussed.