Sap beetles can directly injure fruits and vegetables, however they are more often found on fruit/vegetables that have been damaged by another insect, or infected with a disease. For example, in strawberries sap beetles may often be seen on berries that also infected with a disease (Figure 5.). They commonly infest corn, tomatoes, raspberries, strawberries, and muskmelons that are wounded or overripe.
If they are attracted to a garden by fermenting, overripe produce, they may also infest undamaged, developing fruits and vegetables, particularly berries or corn. In sweet corn, for example, an ear damaged by corn earworm will attract sap beetles, whose larvae then feed on the undamaged kernels (Figure 6).