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This 8mm long brownish scarab beetle is the Asiatic garden beetle (Maladera castanea). It is native to East Asia, but has established itself through most of the eastern United States as well. (Of interesting note is that it took nearly 100 years from first being spotted in New York to make its way down to Florida!)

Generally considered something of a garden pest, it eats leaves and flowers, quite vigorously if there are large numbers of insects present. Both adults and larvae can damage plants, although these guys are not considered as pestiferous as some other scarab beetles.

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