May bugs spend most of their time underground as larvae. Already have an account with us? Male and female cockchafers may use some subtle chemical signal from decay, or particular roots, to co-ordinate a rendezvous, but the fact that males have seven club segments and females only six suggests that males also respond to female pheromone scents. These pests will feed on your lawns root system and will be a serious problem. It is also prone to falling down chimneys. This is a smaller species that usually emerges at the beginning of June and is common around the date of the summer solstice, 21 June.Â, 'It does pretty much the same thing,' Hine said. The cockchafer is about 2.5cm in length and is the largest species of chafer beetle in the UK. This cycle means that a lot of may bugs emerge from the ground every 4 years. Cockchafer beetles used to be common across Europe, but were almost wiped out by pesticides during the 20th century. To reverse the damage we've done and protect the future, we need the knowledge that comes from scientific discovery. During that time, they look for a mate and fly into the tree tops to feed on leaves. No need to register, buy now! The Year of the May Bug. Adult cockchafers only live for about 5 or 6 weeks. Privacy notice. Another common species to look out for is the summer chafer, Amphimallon solstitialis. The common cockchafer, Melolontha melolontha, is a rather large beetle that flies about noisily, emitting a loud whirring noise.It is more commonly known as the May Bug and it gets this nickname as it commonly emerges in early May and is seen frequently during this time. The Devil’s coach horse is a long, black beetle with short elytra (wing cases). At first glance you could mistake it for an earwig. Cockchafers, along with stag beetles, dung beetles, dor beetles and scarabs, have the last three to seven segments of their antennae expanded into flat, plate-like leaves, which sit in a distinctive fan-like arrangement. A nocturnal predator, this beetle lives in and around decaying matter. Cockchafer guide: how to identify and where to see, Stag beetle guide: how to identify, and how to help them in your garden, Best plants to grow for pollinators in your wildlife garden, Volunteer interview: Running a beetle recording scheme, A Vulture Landscape – 12 months in Extremadura, Garden butterflies to spot in March and April. Males have seven ‘feathers’ to each antennae while females have six. People tell us they 'still get shivers walking through the front door', and thank us for inspiring the next generation of scientists. Cockchafers have caused their fair share of historical surprises, in 1320, an Avignon court sentenced cockchafers to exile in a special reserve – the beetles did not comply. Cockchafers gather together on top of buildings. You can unsubscribe at any time. Root feeding grubs include; white curl grub, scarab beetle larvae, lawn beetle larvae or cockchafer. They can be larger than the adults, growing to up to 4cm and are a food source for owls and bats. Cockchafers, also known as Maybugs, have distinctive, fan-shaped antennae. These beetles usually appear around late April – early May and can frequently be seen and heard flying into lit windows and even lamps indoors! This handsome chap is the Common cockchafer, also referred to as the May bug, the Spang beetle or the Billy witch. Seen for the first time, an adult cockchafer, or May bug, can cause a bit of a stir and people can be worried by them.Â. Adults: cockchafer beetles are large and bulky, growing up to 30mm in length. Cockchafers have whitish triangles on their sides, hairy bodies, reddish-brown wing cases that meet in the middle and orange fan-like antennae. The cockchafer may have got its most common name from a mixture of "cock" as in familiar, such as "cock-sparrow", and "chafer" from "cefer" or "kaefer", a gnawing beetle… Now we're wondering if you can help us. Â, Every year, more people are reading our articles to learn about the challenges facing the natural world. These small and slender members of the beetle family are a common pest usually associated with roses, but they do eat other types of plants as well. The intimidating sharp point at the tip of a cockchafer’s abdomen is not a sting, but a pygidium – used by females to push their eggs deep into the soil. Thanks! She said, 'They've certainly been seen in April this year around the country.'. These are not to be mixed up with the “witchetty grub”. The cockchafer is sometimes called a ‘doodle-bug’ or May bug, although it is in fact a beetle. Antennae are the olfactory sense organs of insects, and this formation greatly increases the surface area available for the chemosensors. Museum Coleoptera Curator Beulah Garner said a warm spell will bring them out early. The cockchafer is sometimes known as the doodlebug. Thank you. 'We would usually expect to get 100 or more calls from people wanting to know what this peculiar creature is,' said Hine. The adult beetles have reddish-brown wing cases and a black head with short fan-like antennae. If more than 5-10 grubs are found per section, chafer control is recommended. Our future depends on nature, but we are not doing enough to protect our life support system. Â, British wildlife is under threat. ‘They sometimes mistake chimney stacks for tree tops and occasionally fall down chimneys into open fireplaces,’ Hine said. No matter the size, every gift to the Museum is critical to our 300 scientists' work in understanding and protecting the natural world. Â. Mostly affect flats and high rise buildings. This pygidium often leads people to believe that this species can sting, but do not worry – this beetle cannot sting. The grubs (sometimes called rookworms as they are prized by corvids) can devastate cereal crops. The adults eat leaves and flowers. We use them to help improve our content, personalise it for you and tailor our digital advertising on third-party platforms. There are two species of cockchafer found in the UK: the common cockchafer (Melolontha melolontha) which is found in the south of the UK, and the northern cockchafer (Melolontha hippocastani) which is found in northern England, Scotland and Ireland. But Stuart Hine from the Museum’s Identification and Advisory Service (IAS), who is often asked by the public to identify them, confirms that they most certainly don't sting. The common cockchafer differs from similar chafer species by having a pointed pygidium, which is a segment at the end of their abdomen. What do cockchafer beetles look like? Dangerous pest in the garden. One of Britain’s bulkiest beetles, the 3-cm-long cockchafer can be heard and seen buzzing and bumping against light fittings and window panes (more commonly in the south) from late April to July. It isn't actually a bug and doesn't only fly in May, but the UK's  largest chafer beetle is easy to spot. https://www.buglife.org.uk/bugs/bug-directory/common-cockchafer "In some areas and times, cockchafers were even served as food. Large beetles, which are clumsy and make a very loud buzzing sound when flying. The May bug or doodlebug - Latin name Melolontha melolontha – known as the Spang beetle and Billy witch in Suffolk and the chovy, mitchamador, kittywitch or midsummer dor in Norfolk, is actually the Common Cockchafer. That said, the problems caused in lawns are most commonly caused by the Garden Chafer and the Welsh Chafer. Adult Cockchafers are found on and around trees and shrubs in gardens, parks, field hedgerows and woodland margins, feeding on leaves and flowers. Adult European chafers are tan or brown beetles resembling June beetles and measure approximately 1.5cm in length. They die after 4-6 weeks. Understanding and protecting life on our planet is the greatest scientific challenge of our age. Cockchafers gather together on top of buildings. Discover the bioluminescent beetles putting on night-time light shows in Britain. © Getty. Find out more. Amazing encounter with an Enormous Flying Cockchafer Beetle They fly at dusk on warm evenings, making a noisy hum, and are attracted to light. It is a clumsy flier and makes a buzzing sound. With its rusty-brown wing cases, pointed 'tail' and fan-like antennae it is unmistakeable. Cockchafers, Melolontha melolontha, are relatively large beetles belonging to the scarab family. They are short-lived and do not bite or sting. Hence their nickname, the June Bug. The antennal club of the male cockchafer has seven lamellae which are about 3.5mm long; in the female it is 6-segmented and about 1.5mm in length. Only those grubs found in turf are likely to be chafers damaging lawn roots Other less troublesome species of chafer grubs can also occur in turf and garden borders, such as the cockchafer ( Melolontha melolontha ), summer chafer ( Amphimallon solstitialis ) and brown chafer ( Serica brunnea ). ANSWER: Adult beetles don't cause any significant damage. In 1574, cockchafers emerged in such numbers in the Severn valley that the volume of carcasses disabled watermills. Insects usually need to sniff out two things – food sources and mates. It has characteristic fanned antennae, a black body, and brown legs and wingcases. Despite the mounting pressures, hope is not lost. Adult European chafers are tan or brown beetles resembling June beetles and measure approximately 1.5cm in length. The figeater beetle (Cotinis mutabilis) is a green-colored beetle that is commonly found in yards, compost heaps, and mulch.Belonging to the beetle family Scarabaeidae, “fig” beetles have a semi-glossy green shell with orange-colored edges.Turning the beetles over, you will notice striking metallic green belly and legs. Females lay their eggs in the soil, and these hatch into carnivorous larvae. The beetles themselves don’t cause any damage at all to your lawn. These are all common names for the juvenile stage of a lawn beetle that feeds on the lawn roots. Their grubs are even more dangerous. Museum scientists are working hard to understand and fight against the threats facing British wildlife.Â. There are nearly 20 species of chafer in Britain, most do not cause problems in gardens; The larvae have white bodies, brown heads and three pairs of legs the largest species, the cockchafer or Maybug (Melolontha melolontha) can reach 50mm in length. Cockchafer beetle. You must be over the age of 13. They are short-lived and do not bite or sting. The life cycle of the common cockchafer (Melolontha melolontha) has the following stages: egg, three larval instars, a pupal instar and the adult beetle.The adult beetle is 25 to 30 mm long, with a dark head, black pronotum covered with short hairs, and reddish brown elytra with four longitudinal ribs each. Find out about the plants and animals that make the UK home. In dung beetles, male and female antennae are very similar, suggesting that both are attracted to faecal odours, so can locate a mate at a pat. After 3-4 years, they emerge from the ground and mate as beetles. Huge collection, amazing choice, 100+ million high quality, affordable RF and RM images. A 19th century recipe from France for cockchafer soup reads: "roast one pound of cockchafers without wings and legs in sizzling butter, then cook them in a chicken soup, add some veal liver and serve with chives on a toast". Until pesticides started controlling them in the Twentieth Century, cockchafers were a serious agricultural pest. But if we don't look after nature, nature can't look after us. We must act on scientific evidence, we must act together, and we must act now. Sign in to manage your newsletter preferences. It has characteristic antennae that fan out. They are mostly extinct across the rest of Europe due to the use of super-strength pesticides that are outlawed in the United Kingdom. Chafer grubs, dung beetles and stag beetles all have similar looking grubs. Cockchafer Beetle Maybug melolantha melolantha Irish beetles Ireland Irish UK Europe hairy elytra chitin insect macro photograph European beetle. 'Then after dark, they are attracted to light and can get caught in lamp shades. Find the perfect cockchafer beetles stock photo. Cockchafers are also called May bugs because of the time of year when they tend to emerge. You can often see cockchafers on May evenings buzzing around the garden, which is why they are often known as the 'May bug'. This familiar beetle has a black thorax, rusty brown elytra (wing cases) and brown legs. Most specimens are chestnut brown but for the head, pronotum and scutellum which are darker. A chemist who collects insects as a pastime has spotted what generations of British entomologists have missed: a native British beetle, living in ancient Scottish pine forests. Cockchafers make an irritating buzz when flying, and the gigantic beetles are known for casusing irreparable damage to gardens and biting humans. Cockchafers tend to live between four to five weeks. 'It flies around tree tops, nibbles leaves as adults and eats roots below ground as a larva. Mostly affect flats and high rise buildings. Cockchafers are 15mm to 20mm long. 'They have a segment called the pygidium at the end of their abdomen, which is long and pointed,' Hine said. Common chafer on green grass. If more than 5-10 grubs are found per section, chafer control is recommended. From as little as £2, you can help us to find new ways to protect nature. By entering your details, you are agreeing to Discover Wildlife terms and conditions and privacy policy. Large beetles, which are clumsy and make a very loud buzzing sound when flying. Our expert guide to cockchafers explains how to identify this fascinating beetle, plus facts about their diet and habitat. A cockchafer is a type of large, flying beetle that can be quite noisy. 'It looks vicious but is actually a tool for females to lay eggs into the ground.'. It has characteristic fanned antennae, a black body, and brown legs and wingcases. Rose Chafer larvae are equally adept at destroying plant life, including grass. © The Trustees of The Natural History Museum, London, Discover the Angela Marmont Centre for UK Biodiversity. Fast Facts. Adults: cockchafer beetles are large and bulky, growing up to 30mm in length. Their undersides are covered with fine white hairs. Scarab beetles (including the chafers and dung beetles) have characteristic antennae in which the final segments have fan-like extensions. For many, the Museum is a place that inspires learning, gives purpose and provides hope. Their colour range from light brown/grey to dark brown/black. ANSWER: Adult beetles don't cause any significant damage. Their bodies are hairy and have white cup-shaped markings down each side. These are called grubs. The common cockchafer is the UK's largest scarab beetle (scarabs include dung beetles and chafers). Grubs eat the roots of a variety of plants and in large numbers can become pests damaging pastures and crops. 'They have a segment called the pygidium at the end of their abdomen, which is long and pointed,' Hine said. Dr Grove suggests collecting the cockchafers and putting them outside where a chook or bird would enjoy eating them. Cockchafers spend most of their lives (three to four years) underground as larvae, or grubs. Chafer grubs are the larvae of chafer beetles. During the day it tends to rest among leaf litter or under stones. ', ... or that it helped you learn something new. The grubs are white and C-shaped with six legs and reddish-brown heads.Â. We are closed until further notice. A cockchafer is a type of large, flying beetle that can be quite noisy. The bumbling brown beetles which swarm through the dusk of late May evenings and bang against lighted window panes have several names – cockchafers, May bugs or June bugs. We use cookies to make your online experience sweeter. The most recognisable of these in the UK is the Cock Chafer, a large beetle which you’ll see between May and June. Adults are 2.5-3cm long, and are common in the south of England and the Midlands. The name cockchafer means 'big beetle' in Old English.Â, Although one of their common names is the May bug, if climate conditions are right, adult cockchafer beetles are often seen flying in April.Â. The good news is that the beetles, which are a scarab beetle in the dung beetle family, cannot bite. The good news is that the beetles, which are a scarab beetle in the dung beetle family, cannot bite. The larvae, sometimes called rookworms, live in the soil and eat the roots of vegetables and grasses. When a beetle lands on the ground, the delicate wings tuck safely away under hard wing cases called elytra. Other than being a nuisance, the beetles are not harmful. The May bug or doodlebug - Latin name Melolontha melolontha – known as the Spang beetle and Billy witch in Suffolk and the chovy, mitchamador, kittywitch or midsummer dor in Norfolk, is actually the Common Cockchafer. True bugs that can fly have wings that usually overlap when folded, instead of meeting in a mid-line as cockchafer wings do. In autumn they seek somewhere to hibernate. The largest and most conspicuous of the almost 90 species of scarabs found in the British Isles is the Cockchafer (or May-Bug). Curl grubs are the larvae of different species of beetle including the African Black Beetle, the blackheaded pasture cockchafer, Christmas beetles and Scarab beetles. Main image: Cockchafers distinctive antennae sit in a distinctive fan-like arrangement. Try 3 issues of BBC Wildlife Magazine for just £5! The cockchafer, colloquially called Maybug or doodlebug, is the name given to any of the European beetles of the genus Melolontha, in the family Scarabaeidae. Adult cockchafers are associated with deciduous woodland where they feed on tree leaves. But Stuart Hine from the Museum’s Identification and Advisory Service (IAS), who is often asked by the public to identify them, confirms that they most certainly don't sting. Discover some standout British beetles, including a particularly vibrant ladybird and a rare rainbow-coloured leaf beetle. The chubby white grubs attack grass blades from the roots, potentially ruining pristine turf. The animals and plants that make our island unique are facing a fight to survive. Hedgehog habitats are disappearing, porpoises are choking on plastic and ancient woodlands are being paved over.Â. Cockchafer Description This large beetle has ribbed wing cases (elytra) that are reddish-brown in colour, and the head and the pronotum are blackish and covered in short hairs. Their undersides are covered with fine white hairs. Seen for the first time, an adult cockchafer, or May bug, can cause a bit of a stir and people can be worried by them. The cockchafer, colloquially called May bug or doodlebug, a European beetle … Despite their clumsiness, these winged beetles are destructive, for they find their food by stripping foliage from trees. Get email updates about our news, science, exhibitions, events, products, services and fundraising activities. Because of the buzz of its flight, this nickname was used for Germany’s V-1 flying bomb in World War II. The larvae feed on dead plant material and the live roots or stems of a broad range of plants including lawns. Beetles have heavy body armor, so they often fly more slowly than other insects. Blackheaded cockchafer beetles invade Tasmanian homes after hot, wet weather. Bug bite pictures can be purchased at bookstores via medical books pertaining to bug bites or dermatological issues. Adult cockchafers are one of the top enquiries to the IAS during May. 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