Cockchafer: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the cockchafer lives – recorded in 16 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Melolontha melolontha
Group	Beetles
Found in	16 countries
Continents	Europe
Class	Insect
Order	Coleoptera
Family	Scarabaeidae

Where does the cockchafer live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the cockchafer in 16 countries and territories across Europe.

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

What kind of animal is the cockchafer?

The cockchafer (Melolontha melolontha) is an insect in the order Coleoptera and the family Scarabaeidae, genus Melolontha. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the cockchafer

The common cockchafer (Melolontha melolontha), known colloquially as the Maybug, Maybeetle, or doodlebug, among many other names, is a species of scarab beetle belonging to the genus Melolontha. It is native to Europe, and it is also one of the several closely-related and morphologically similar species of Melolontha called cockchafers, alongside Melolontha hippocastani (the forest cockchafer) as the latter also shows sexual dimorphism, mating practices, and key physical features such as the number of lamellae.

The cockchafer develops via metamorphosis, in which the beetle undergoes stages of eggs, larvae, pupae and adults.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Cockchafer (revision 1381029965), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q28175 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).