M. melolontha Linnaeus, 1758
M. hippocastani Fabricius, 1801
M. pectoralis Mühlfeld, 1812
The Cockchafer or "May bug", as it is colloquially called, is a European beetle of the family of the dung beetles, the Scarabaeidae. Once abundant throughout Europe and a major pest in the periodical years of "mass flight", it has been decimated significantly in the middle of the 20th century throu ...
There are three species of European cockchafers:
The Common Cockchafer, Melolontha melolontha
The Forest Cockchafer, Melolontha hippocastani
Melolontha pectoralis (Megerle von Mühlfeld 1812; or Germar 1824), which is very rare and occurs only in south-western Germany.
The cockchafer should not be confused with the similar European Chafer (Rhizotrogus majalis), which has a completely different life cycle, nor with the June Beetles (Phyllophaga spp.) ...
Imagines (i.e., adults) of the Common Cockchafer reach sizes of 25 to 30 mm, the Forest Cockchafer is a bit smaller (20 - 25 mm). The two species can best be distinguished by the form of their Pygidium (the back end): it is long and slender in the Common Cockchafer, but shorter and knob-shaped at the end in the Forest Cockchafer. Both have a brown colour.
The M. pectoralis looks similar, but its Pygidium is rounded.
Male cockchafers have seven "leaves" on their an ...
Adults appear at the end of April or in May and live only for about five to seven weeks. After about two weeks, the female begins laying eggs, which she buries about 10 to 20 cm deep in the earth. She may do this several times until she has laid between 60 and 80 eggs. The Common Cockchafer lays its eggs in fields, whereas the Forest Cockchafer stays in the vicinity of the trees. The preferred food for adults are oak leaves, bu ...
