Japanese drone beetle
Its metallic sheen ranges from green to copper to yellow between individuals, so two drone beetles feeding on the same tree can look like separate species.
| Where | Broadleaf forests across Japan and Korea |
|---|---|
| Size | 23 to 32 mm body length |
| When | June to August |
The Japanese drone beetle is a stocky, domed scarab with a metallic shine that varies from green to copper to yellow between individuals. A close relative, the Aokanabun, looks similar but is always a uniform blue green with a slimmer body, so colour alone does not confirm the species.
Adults gather at oozing sap on oak, elm and other broadleaf trees through summer, feeding by day and sometimes coming to lights at night. Females lay eggs in rotten wood and leaf litter, and the grubs spend one to two years feeding on decayed plant matter in forest soil before the short adult season.
Traits
Habitat
Woodland
Colour
Green, Brown, Metallic
Active
Day and night
To people
Attracted to tree sap and sometimes to lights at night; harmless to people.
Activity through the year
Often confused with
Always a uniform blue green with a glossy shine, lacking the bronze or yellow brown forms common in the Japanese drone beetle, and has a slimmer, more elongated body.
Questions
Is the Japanese drone beetle dangerous to people?
Attracted to tree sap and sometimes to lights at night; harmless to people.
When can you see the Japanese drone beetle?
The Japanese drone beetle can be seen from June to August, by day and at night.
Plate retouched from a photo by Rainer Breitling, CC BY 4.0, iNaturalist Licence
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Beetles›Scarabs›Pseudotorynorrhina
Last updated 2026-09-27. Every entry is checked against published sources.