Melolontha hippocastani
Taxonomic position
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Melolontha hippocastani Fabricius, 1801 - (horse chestnut cockchafer)
is found in many parts of Europe. Damage is mainly done through the larvae - white grubs - which attack the roots of various plants, mainly forest trees like pines and firs. Fruit trees may be also attacked. For breeding, sandy soil is preferred which is often associated with outbreak areas. The adults feed on the young shoots of the trees. Outbreaks can weaken trees significantly.
In contrast to the common cockchafer, Melolontha melolontha, the development cycle is normally 4 years. However, 3 and 5 years have been also reported. Development in a population is well synchronized and masses of adults emerge during May and June of some years, but not during other years.
| Vernacular names | |
|---|---|
| • Deutsch: | Waldmaikäfer Rosskastanienmaikäfer |
| • English: | horse chestnut cockchafer |
| • Español: | melolonta forestal |
| • Français: | hanneton forestier |
In the past control has relied on treating the soil in outbreak areas with pesticides like organochlorides or organophosphates. More recently, control has focused more on the aerial application of pesticides during mass flights of adults. Attempts are on-going to replace chemical pesticides with botanicals or microbial agents. However, the results are still not considered to be satisfactory.
The adult is between 20-30 mm long. The main morphological difference to the common cockchafer is the shape and colour of the pygidium tip which is shorter, but widens slightly at the end. The difference is especially clear in males (see illustrations below).
- Other images of Melolontha hippocastani (Wikimedia Commons and PaDIL - click to enlarge)
head
head and pronotum
pygidium
pygidium female
pygidium male (M. hippocastani)
male pygidium of M. melolontha (for comparison)
