Adults are commonly about 25–35 mm long; mature grubs can exceed 40 mm.
Fine-art photographic collection
Lepidiota stigma
A beetle that spends nearly its entire two-year life underground eating roots, then erupts as a flying adult after rain.
About this species
Sugarcane White Grub
Lepidiota stigma(Fabricius, 1801)
Information reviewed15 July 2026
Lepidiota stigma is a large Southeast Asian scarab whose white grubs feed on the roots of sugarcane and many other plants. The subterranean larval stage is long and destructive; adults emerge seasonally to mate and lay eggs.
Taxonomy
Animalia · Arthropoda · Insecta · Coleoptera · Scarabaeidae · Melolonthinae · Lepidiota
Accepted taxon. · checked 2026-07-15
South and Southeast AsiaBroad range and selected reference localities — not a complete occurrence map.
South and Southeast Asia
Cultivated land, plantations, grassland and soil around host plants.
Adults emerge after seasonal rain, often fly at dusk and are attracted to lights.
Larvae feed on living roots; adults feed little or take foliage.
Solitary, although synchronous emergence can produce large swarms.
What makes this species remarkable?
The life cycle can take about two years, with a prolonged final larval stage concealed below ground while the grub repeatedly prunes the root system above it.
A field may look healthy until damaged plants suddenly wilt or can be pulled from the ground with almost no roots — the feeding injury is hidden until it is severe.
Rain synchronises adult emergence, transforming a dispersed underground population into a brief, conspicuous flight of large pale cockchafers seeking mates.