Beetles in Your Garden: Friend or Foe? (And What to Do About Them)

You’ve toiled all spring on your lawn and garden, only to wake up one morning to find patches and holes in your grass, flowers, and plants. But what happened? 

More than likely, you’ve got certain garden beetles rooting in your outdoor spaces. Here’s your go-to guide to beetles, the good and the bad, so you can learn more about the different types and the easiest ways to get rid of them by using insect control in your garden when needed.

What is a Garden Beetle? 

Garden beetles are the most common insect you’ll find in your outdoor spaces. Nearly one-quarter of all animal species are beetles (approximately 400,000 at last count), with at least 30,000 beetles in North American gardens alone. Bottom line: There’s no getting away from a beetle!

They are known in the animal kingdom by the scientific name of Coleoptera—in Greek, koleos means shield, and ptera (pronounced tare-uh) means wings. They can live anywhere except the frigid cold and the ocean. In a domestic setting, garden beetles typically live low to the ground, buried in the grass or under leaves. 

What Does a Garden Beetle Look Like?

Garden beetles have some distinguishing characteristics that set them apart from other garden predators. Beetles share a common anatomy with other insects: They have a head, thorax, abdomen, and three pairs of legs.

Beetles also have two sets of wings—a thick, hardened pair covers their more fragile pair of flying wings (so you’ll likely hear a crunch if you step on them). They have compound eyes, allowing them different views simultaneously. And their mouths are capable of chewing, as opposed to other bugs whose mouths are designed to pierce and suck.

Beetles are often brown or black, but some contain bright colors. They vary in shape and size, depending on the type.

Common Types of Beetles You May Spot in Your Garden

There are more species of garden beetles than we can count. While we can’t dissect every species of beetle, here are eight common types you’re likely to encounter around your home:

1. Lady Beetles: More commonly known as ladybugs, these spotted insects eat aphids and other garden nuisances. (And if you’re superstitious, they’re known to bring good luck.)
2. Fireflies: Also known as lightning bugs, fireflies use their flashing lights to mate. They prefer to eat slugs and worms and live in damp, dark environments.
3. Ground Beetles: Generally dark in color and large, ground beetles live exactly where you’d think—under logs, damp soil, or plant cover. They typically eat other insects.
4. Soldier Beetles: These insects have elongated bodies and are often found pollinating flowers. Some also eat garden pests, like aphids. 
5. Leaf Beetles: These are some of the most dangerous beetles for your trees, plants, and crops. There are many species of leaf beetles, and they vary in color and shape.
6. Scarab Beetles: More than 1,400 species of scarab beetles exist in the United States. One of the most common, the Japanese beetle, is known for being a gardening pest. Another, the June beetle, eats fruit plants.
7. Weevils: Part of the largest beetle family, weevils are incredibly destructive, eating plants in your garden and stored grains in your pantry. They are tiny and have long snouts and long antennae.
8. Click Beetles: To move around, these beetles snap together the two parts of their bodies and spring into the air to create a “clicking” noise. Also known as wireworms, they are destructive to root crops like carrots and potatoes.

Are Beetles Good or Bad for My Garden?

As with almost anything, there are pros and cons to having garden beetles. Some are helpful to your garden. Ground beetles, ladybugs, and fireflies eat other insects that can harm your garden. Others, like soldier beetles, are known to pollinate your flowers. To create a thriving garden ecosystem, you’ll want to keep these types of beetles around to do a lot of the hard work for you.

However, you’ll want to get rid of other beetles that cause your garden more harm than good by using an insect control method. Garden beetles that actively eat your leafy plants, like leaf beetles or scarabs, or those that target root vegetables, like click beetles, must be treated quickly to save flowers, plants, and crops. And weevils will destroy your plants outside and your food inside your pantry, so it’s important to know how to get rid of these beetles before they take over your home.

Easy Methods to Get Rid of Beetles

Because they’re so common, it might seem daunting to protect your plants from bugs like beetles. However, here are four easy methods to get rid of the beetles you don’t need around your garden (you don’t even have to break out your garden tools to accomplish most of them) while creating a friendly environment for the good garden beetles to thrive.

• Use a do-it-yourself (DIY) solution
• Use an all-natural insecticide 
• Use a soil treatment
• Use plants to your advantage

Use a Do-It-Yourself Solution to Get Rid of Beetles

Essential oils, like neem oil or peppermint oil, provide an all-natural solution to getting rid of beetles. Sprinkle the neem oil around doors and windows, or spray a mixture of peppermint oil and water on affected plants and watch those beetles fall away.

Likewise, water and dish soap offer an easy, DIY solution for getting rid of beetles. Just mix a quart of water with a squirt of dish soap and place the jar under the plants that have beetles. When the beetles fall into the water, the soap will smother them.

Use an All-Natural Insecticide to Get Rid of Beetles

Sometimes, you need more power than the DIY route can take you. That’s when you should rely on an organic insecticide, like PureCrop1 from Rocky Mountain BioAg®, which will get rid of those pesky beetles without harming your plants, pets, or children.

Use a Soil Treatment to Get Rid of Beetles

The best time to get rid of beetles is while they’re still in the soil. A product like Crab Shell Flour will release chitin into the soil, which helps to kill pests before they emerge in the spring. 

You can test your soil’s health year-round using a microbiometer to determine which nutrients are needed for your plants to thrive. And don’t forget: Rocky Mountain BioAg® offers several mineral amendments to keep your soil in tip-top shape.

Use Plants to Get Rid of Beetles

You can also use the plants in your garden to get rid of the beetles you don’t want. Simply choose flowers and plants—like chrysanthemums, petunias, lemongrass, or lavender—that do the hard work of repelling garden beetles for you.

While they aren’t always pleasant, garden beetles are a natural part of outdoor life. Knowing which ones are beneficial for your space and how to treat those that aren’t will make your gardening time a breeze!