How Many Eggs Do Japanese Beetles Lay?

The Japanese beetle produces only about 30 to 60 eggs in her entire lifetime. Keep in mind that an adult Japanese beetle dies after the short Japanese beetle season ends, so it is not a long lifetime we are talking about.

The eggs are laid on a summer afternoon, and buried underneath the ground about 1 to 2 inches deep. They do this so that when the eggs hatch, the larvae can munch on the roots of the vegetation until they are ready to become adults in approximately 9 months.

The eggs hatch after only a couple of weeks and at that point they are considered grubs. When the grub grows to about 1 inch in length many months later, it sheds its skin and digs its way above ground in order to mate.

It is not common for people to see Japanese beetle eggs because they are buried underground. We definitely see the abundance of adult Japanese beetles during the early summer, but the eggs remain hidden from view.