Cockchafer

Uncommon card · No. 127559

The common cockchafer (Melolontha melolontha), known colloquially as the Maybug, Maybeetle, or doodlebug, among many other names, is a species of scarab beetle belonging to the genus Melolontha. It is native to Europe, and it is also one of the several closely-related and morphologically similar species of Melolontha called cockchafers, alongside Melolontha hippocastani (the forest cockchafer), with which it shares several physical and behavioural characteristics, including sexual dimorphism, mating practices, and its lamellae. The mating behaviour is controlled by pheromones. The males usually swarm during the mating season while the females stay put and feed on leaves. When cockchafers feed, they cause leaves to release green leaf volatiles, which the males can detect and thus locate females for mating. The larvae use both the plant volatiles and CO2 to locate the plant root for food. The cockchafer develops via metamorphosis, in which the beetle undergoes stages of eggs, larvae, pupae...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Frank Vassen from Brussels, Belgium, CC BY 2.0