Name that garden pest!

So, I've been seeing these smallish, dark beetles, about 1/2" long, quite round in shape, sort of iridescent black in color, might have seen a few last year.  This year, there are tons of them and they are eating some of our decorative plantings.  They're all over a sage plant, and if you walk up to them, they fall to the ground and dig into the mulch.  Annoying.  What are they and how can I (safely) kill them?  I won't use napalm or gasoline because of their proximity to the house, but pretty much anything else will be considered. 

My neighbor is complaining that they are devouring her plants as well.

Anybody know what these things are?  I guess I need to photograph one.

More info:  They're all about the same size, at 3/8".  Upside down, they're brownish, and the legs are also brownish.

Stuff on their back in this pic is dirt or sand.  They're smooth and have no markings, color is to my eye a dark green-black with a shiny-ness.

There is an insect identifier app that works pretty well.

Look like Japanese beetles to me.

Are the white spots on the beetle, or are they pollen/dirt/debris?

I agree with Japanese beetle if the spots aren't part of the beetle itself.

Edit:  Saw your sentence that says it's debris.  Japanese beetle.  Their larva phase is what people talk about when their lawn has "grubs."  The larva crawl around and eat the roots of the grass.  Once adults they eat foliage, flowers, and fruits of a lot of popular ag products.  Milky Spore is a bacteria that you can buy as a powder to kill larvae.  Pheromone traps can be useful on adults, but they attract more than they catch, so put them a little bit away from the crops to lure them to something more attractive.  Putting them in the garden could make it worse.

The bacteria powder is no good for this year unless there are still some grubs left.  You will want to spend the next few springs doing the powder treatment so the larvae don't have a chance to become adults.  Then your lawn will have a "culture" of the bacteria for a couple years and you can scale back your treatments.

I had bugs eating an Ash tree in my yard, I brought a small branch with bugs to the County Cooperative Extension and a bug-ologist (sorry, dunno the title) defined it.

Click around here and contact the bug Guru nearest you. =~ )

Totally not Japanese Beetles.  I've seen Japanese Beetles since I was a kid, caught jars full of them, sprayed them with toxins, fed them to chickens.  I know Japanese Beetles, and you sir, are no Japanese Beetle.

The "spots" are grains of sand.  The beetle in question is one dark black-ish color with no variation, but for the brown legs.  A Japanese Beetle is distinctly green and copper/bronze in color.  I'm thinking this is an invasive species, because I have not seen them before, and certainly not in these numbers.  I will forward information to the local extension office.

By that description, you're right.  Not Japanese Beetle.

I poked around VA's DOF site and USDA's invasive species site and didn't find anything particular.

Possible for a better picture that can be plugged into an ID app?

914Driver said:

I had bugs eating an Ash tree in my yard, I brought a small branch with bugs to the County Cooperative Extension and a bug-ologist (sorry, dunno the title) defined it.

Click around here and contact the bug Guru nearest you. =~ )

Emerald Ash Borer.  We used to have about 200 Ash trees on the farm.  We now have zero.

Oooo.... Brown Mint Leaf Beetle?  Several varieties including green,brown, and black/brown

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

Eh.  Looks a little like it.  But apparently not found in the States.

1988RedT2 said:

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

Eh.  Looks a little like it.  But apparently not found in the States.

We've said that about a lot of things over the years. Please contact your local Ag extension.

Done!  Should have an answer in a couple of days.

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

Aphids.  Tree was eaten up so we pushed tree vitamins in the ground, tree got happy and Aphids multiplied.   Tree died anyway.

914Driver said:

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

Aphids.  Tree was eaten up so we pushed tree vitamins in the ground, tree got happy and Aphids multiplied.   Tree died anyway.

At least it died happy?

In reply to 1988RedT2 :

Yeah.  A couple sites said they are here, but Wiki says Europe.

Any new Portuguese neighbors?  :)