Common Cockchafer or Maybug

This was brought in by Deb one of my colleagues at work and is also known as a Maybug. The Common Cockchafer (Melolontha melolontha) was a serious pest in agriculture and forestry. The larvae live in the soil for up to five years, but usually up to four and the adults emerge in late April or early May and live for about five to seven weeks. Adult Cockchafers have striking antennae which are leaf or fan like. I picked out this picture so that these can be seen hopefully more clearly.

Numbers of these beetles have increased greatly since the 1980's due to the restrictions imposed on using pesticides. Chafer grubs feed on the roots of different plants including potatoes which is why they can be a serious pest of food plants. Control is now done biologically to control the numbers of the grubs. Being a fan of farm machinery, it's rather interesting to note that one of the main makers of farm sprayers is Chafer who also, by the by make aircraft deicers.