Common Cockchafer
This handsome fellow is the Common cockchafer, also sometimes referred to as the May bug, the Spang beetle or the Billy witch. These unmistakable beetles usually appear around late April – early May and can frequently be seen and heard flying into lit windows and even lamps indoors!
The Common cockchafer (Melolontha melolontha) males can easily be distinguished from the females by counting the number of 'leaves' on their remarkable antler-like antennae, males sport seven ‘leaves’ while females have only six. These leafy antennae can detect chemicals or pheromones, this enables males to find females even in the dark!
 Matteo Dinicola.jpg) |
| Common cockchafer (Melolontha melolontha) © Matteo Dinicola |
For the Cockchafer, life begins as an egg laid around June - July, hatching into a white grub which lives underground. These grubs can spend 3 years underground (up to 5 years in colder climates) until they pupate. As grubs they munch on roots and tubers until they reach around 4cm. This is the point when they pupate, emerging as an adult beetle (or imago) in the spring. They live as imagos for a mere six weeks during which time the female can lay as many as 80 eggs.
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| Common cockchafer grub (Melolontha melolontha) © Le pot-ager |
Cockchafers were once highly abundant until pesticide use in the mid 20th Century was responsible for almost obliterating them. Thankfully they have been making a come-back since the 1980’s with the regulation of pesticides.
The larvae are considered to be an agricultural nuisance since they can be highly destructive where crops are concerned. Before agricultural intensification these beetles were especially problematic, so much so that adults were caught and killed to break the life cycle, in 1911, more than 20 million individuals were collected in 18 km² of forest. A less conventional approach was taken during 1320, when the cockchafers (as a species) were taken to court in Avignon where they were ordered to leave town and relocate to a specially designated area, or be outlawed. All cockchafers who failed to comply were collected and killed.
 Dragisa Savic THIS ONE ON MAIN PAGE PLEASE.jpg) |
| Common cockchafer (Melolontha melolontha) © Dragisa Savic |
In ancient Greece, young boys used to catch the unwitting cockchafer, and tether it by tying a thread around its feet, amusing themselves by watch the poor chap fly aimlessly around in spirals.
Why do bugs fly into the light?
When insects fly at night they use light sources such as the moon for navigation. If the light is from a closer source such as a candle or lantern, it changes the insect's perception. The intensity of the light in each eye affects the rate at which they beat their wings, this enables them to fly in a straight line over long distances. That is, until they encounter a light bulb, then all bets are off. These “artificial moons” cause the poor insects a great deal of confusion which is why we often see them flying erratically around our porch lights.
