Cockchafer
What Are Cockchafer Beetles?
Let us first learn a bit about these scary beetles. Also known as May bugs, Cockchafer beetles are native to North America and Europe.
They belong to the family Scarabaeidae, which also happens to be the dung beetle family.
These beetles grow up to 2.5 to 3.5 inches long, which is fairly large by beetle standards. The scientific name of the common cockchafer beetle is Melolontha melolontha.
Cockchafer beetles have a particularly bad reputation as garden pests and can cause a lot of damage to your favorite plants.
How To Identify One?
The cockchafer beetle is rather easy to identify. It’s a black beetle characterized by fan-shaped antennae, wing cases, and a pointed tail.
All these three parts, along with the legs, are of bright reddish-brown color. The antennae look like large brows, giving the cockchafers a distinct look.
However, such antennae aren’t exclusive to cockchafers alone – dung beetles have them too, and so does the stag beetle.
When in flight, Cockchafer beetles are quite noisy due to their wings beating rapidly and creating a loud, humming noise.
Larval cockchafers are creamy white grubs with brown heads, but you may not see them often as they live underground.
Do Cockchafers Sting or Bite?
Don’t worry; these beetles don’t bite or sting despite their somewhat scary appearance. The females have a stinger-like structure, which might intimidate you.
However, the sharp point at the end of a female cockchafer isn’t a stinger. It’s the terminal segment of the posterior part of the body, known as pygidium.
The females use the pygidium to bury their eggs in the soil. They aren’t capable of stinging you with it.
Are They Harmful To Humans or Pets?
Cockchafer beetles are harmless to both humans and pets. As mentioned earlier, you don’t need to fear getting bitten or stung by them.
They aren’t venomous either and won’t be able to poison you in any way.
However, the loud buzzing noise they create while flying can be very irritating. If you have pets, it might agitate them to have these large and noisy beetles flying around.
Can They Get Stuck In Your Hair?
Unfortunately, cockchafers can get stuck in your hair upon landing on your head. They have plenty of hooks and spines on their long legs, which they use to get a grip on plant stems.
However, these structures also get tangled up with the hair and cause the beetles to get stuck.
Although there’s a common misconception that you have to cut your hair if a may bug gets stuck in it, this isn’t true.
Do note that these beetles get into hair only by accident. There’s a myth that may bugs get stuck in human hair while trying to attack people or lay eggs in the hair.
This isn’t true, as these beetles aren’t aggressive to humans at all. Moreover, they prefer to lay eggs in soil rather than hair.
Are They Pests?
Cockchafers were deemed serious agricultural pests in the 19th century due to the heavy damage they caused to crops and plants.
Adult cockchafers feed on leaves and flowers, which also makes them a garden pest species.
The larvae, known as grubs, feed on plant roots and are particularly known to damage cereal crops.
Heavy pesticide usage to control them led to the widespread extermination of the cockchafer population.
They have made a comeback now, but they aren’t as devastating as in the past due to their dwindled numbers.
How To Get Rid of Cockchafer Beetles?
If you find cockchafer beetles in your garden, it’s best to get rid of them before they can cause much damage or grow in numbers. Here are some ways to go about it:
Manual removal
If there are only a few of these beetles, you may simply remove them by hand. Drop them in a soapy water solution to kill them after removal.
You may remove the grubs manually, too, though it would take some more work. You’ll have to dig up the soil as cockchafer grubs live underground.
This might ruin the look of your garden and disturb the various other soil-dwelling organisms.
Organic control
The best way to control cockchafers is to do it organically by bringing in natural predators.
Tachinid flies, bats, cuckoos, woodpeckers, and corvids prey on these beetles. You may attract predatory birds by setting up bird feeders near areas infested by cockchafers.
As for the grubs, you may use ground beetles, rooks, and moles.
Biological control
Biological control agents like certain nematodes and pathogenic fungi can also eliminate chafer grubs hiding in the soil. This is a good way to deal with larger infestations.
Chemical control is another option, but you should use chemical pesticides only as a last resort.
Bug Control Recommendation Tool
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do I keep finding cockchafers in my house?
Cockchafers don’t have any specific reason for being indoors, but they’re attracted to artificial light.
If you leave your windows open in the evening, especially during sunset, there’s a chance that you might find cockchafers in your house.
How do I get rid of cockchafers?
Depending on whether you’re dealing with a large number of cockchafers or a large infestation, you can either remove them manually or use biological control agents.
The best long-term remedy, however, is to enforce organic control by bringing their natural predators to your garden.
What do cockchafers turn into?
Cockchafers don’t turn into anything; they’re already full-grown adult beetles. In the larval stage, they’re known as grubs – a common term assigned to a vast range of beetle larvae.
Cockchafer grubs dwell in the soil for several years before maturing.
What damage do cockchafers do?
Grubs of cockchafers can kill plants by feeding on their roots and destroying them. Early symptoms include yellowing canopies and wilting leaves.
The adults, on the other hand, eat the flowers and leaves. Too many of these beetles can quickly cause significant damage to your garden plants.
In fact, these pests were so feared that in the 1300s, they were once tried in the French court and ordered to stop destroying crops! Of course, these bugs didn’t give two hoots to the human courts.
Wrap Up
As we can see, cockchafers aren’t dangerous in terms of being able to hurt you. However, a cockchafer infestation does pose a threat to your garden, and you should attend to it immediately.
If there are just a couple of these beetles, you can leave them be since they have their roles in the ecosystem too.
I hope you enjoyed reading about cockchafers and you won’t be intimidated the next time you see one near you.
Thank you for reading!
2 Comments.
And of course they’re edible, as Vincent Holt mentioned in his landmark 1885 book, “Why Not Eat Insects?”
I will tag the post appropriately.