I have an ornamental pepper tree that is attracting large (scarab-like) flying bugs. What are these insects?
Answers:
Scarabs are a type of beetle. So, I will say that you have some kind of beetle! As far as the type, there are more beetles than any other type of insect (they are the largest family of insects). If you can post a picture, that would help.
FYI, Japanese beetles are metallic looking (greenish, bluish), but other beetles can vary in color.
Could be a chrysomelid beetle or colorado potato beetle... these are common pests of pepper plants.
Other answers:
Japanese Beetles?
Japanese Beetles?
If they're iridescent green-blue beetles, they're probably Japanese beetles- especially if they're eating it all to pieces.
Fill a small bucket of water, add a few squirts of dish soap, and knock them off the plant into the water.
Alternately, hang one of those Japanese Beetle traps in your neighbor's yard- it's a pheromone trap, and if you put it too close to the plants you're trying to protect, the beetles might just snack on the plant on their way to the trap...