[3] The rose chafer has a yellowish-tan coloured body that is about 8–13 millimetres (0.3–0.5 in) in length, with wings that do not completely cover the abdomen.

The larvae are white C-shaped grubs that when mature develop a brown head capsule and three distinct pairs of legs.

Once they have emerged from their pupal case, adults live for 3–6 weeks, during which time they will feed on plant material and mate.

[4][7] After adult rose chafers emerge in late May to mid-June,[4][7] they aggregate on leaves, buds, flowers, and fruit, in order to feed and mate.

Using their antennae, rose chafers can detect the plant compounds in the air and orient themselves in the direction of the feeding conspecific, leading to an aggregation of the beetles.

This huge amount of damage can result in almost total loss of photosynthetically active leaf area as well as reducing or prohibiting pollination.