Common Cockchafer

Melolontha melolontha

The Common Cockchafer is a big, brown beetle that comes out in spring. They fly around and can be seen buzzing in gardens and fields, making them a fun sight for kids!

Lebensraum: Grasslands

Aussehen

The Common Cockchafer has a distinctive chunky, reddish-brown body with a shiny black head and thorax. It features fan-like antennae and a black triangular tip on its abdomen. Its hardened wing cases cover delicate flight wings, giving it a robust appearance different from many slender beetles.

ReichAnimaliaStammArthropodaKlasseInsectaOrdnungColeopteraFamilieScarabaeidaeGattungMelolontha

Common Cockchafer

Kategorie

Insekten

Seltenheit

Common

Gefahr

1/5 · Sehr gering

Snaps

Mach den ersten Snap!

Interessante Fakten

A female cockchafer can lay up to 80 eggs underground during her short adult life!

Cockchafer grubs spend up to four years hidden underground before becoming an adult.

Once, common cockchafers were collected for food or used in children's games!

They use special chemical signals, called pheromones, to find mates in the dark.

Besondere Fähigkeiten

The Common Cockchafer can fly accurately at night because of its well-developed antennae that help them sense smells and navigate in the dark.

The Common Cockchafer has larvae that can live underground for years, silently eating plant roots that helps them grow big before transforming.

Maße und Details

Flügelspannweite: 50-60 mm
Größe: 25-30 mm
Lebenserwartung: 28-42 Tage
Fluggeschwindigkeit: 8 km/h
Anzahl der Beine: 6

Ernährung und Fütterung

Adult cockchafers nibble leaves, while their grubs feast on plant roots underground.

Altersunterschiede: Larvae (grubs) eat roots of grasses and crops; adults primarily feed on tree leaves.

Hauptnahrung

Oak leaves
Beech leaves
Fruit tree leaves

Nahrungssuche

Foraging

Ökologische Zusammenhänge

eats

English Oak

Quercus robur

Adults defoliate leaves, sometimes causing damage.

eats

European Green Woodpecker

Picus viridis

Hunts cockchafer larvae (grubs) from the ground.

eats

European Badger

Meles meles

Digs up and eats the large, nutritious cockchafer grubs.

eats

Potato

Solanum tuberosum

Larvae can damage the roots of potato plants.

Merkmale

Sozial

Soziale Tiere leben in organisierten Gruppen und kooperieren, um ihr Überleben zu sichern, beispielsweise bei der Nahrungssuche, Verteidigung und Aufzucht der Jungen.

Luftbewohnend

Luftbewohnende Tiere verbringen einen erheblichen Teil ihres Lebens in der Luft und nutzen den Flug für verschiedene Aktivitäten wie Jagd, Wanderungen oder Nestbau.

Grasland

Grasland-Lebensräume sind terrestrische Biome, die von Gräsern und krautigen Pflanzen dominiert werden und einer Vielzahl von Weidetieren als Lebensraum dienen.