Melolontha

Melolontha is a genus of beetles in the family Scarabaeidae. The European cockchafers belong to this genus.

Melolontha
A cockchafer (Melolontha melolontha)at take-off
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Arthropoda
Clade:Pancrustacea
Class:Insecta
Order:Coleoptera
Suborder:Polyphaga
Infraorder:Scarabaeiformia
Family:Scarabaeidae
Tribe:Melolonthini
Genus:MelolonthaFabricius, 1775
Many, see text

@media(max-width:640px){body:not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .infobox{width:100%!important}body:not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .infobox th{width:50%}}@media screen{html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .infobox.biota tr{background:transparent!important}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .infobox.biota img{background:transparent}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .infobox.biota tr{background:transparent!important}html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .infobox.biota img{background:white}}.mw-parser-output .infobox.biota .taxobox-edit-taxonomy img{background:transparent!important}body.skin-vector .mw-parser-output table.biota.infobox{margin-top:0.5em}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output table.biota.infobox tr.taxonrow2 td{padding:2px 10px}

Melolontha is a genus of beetles in the family Scarabaeidae. The European cockchafers belong to this genus.

Linnaeus called the European cockchafer Scarabaeus melolontha. Étienne Louis Geoffroy used Melolontha as a genus name (1762), but his book has been suppressed by the International Commission of Zoological Nomenclature, and the authority for the name is the later (1775) publication by Johan Christian Fabricius.

M. hippocastani

The following is a list of species within the genus Melolontha:

  • Melolontha aceris Faldermann, 1835
  • Melolontha afflicta Ballion, 1870
  • Melolontha albida Frivaldszky, 1835
  • Melolontha anita Reitter, 1902
  • Melolontha argus Burmeister 1855
  • Melolontha bifurcata (Brenske, 1896)
  • Melolontha chinensis (Guerin, 1838)
  • Melolontha ciliciensis Petrovitz
  • Melolontha flabellata Sharp, 1876
  • Melolontha frater Arrow, 1913 – Indonesia
  • Melolontha fuscotestacea Kraatz, 1887
  • Melolontha guttigera Sharp, 1876
  • Melolontha hippocastani Fabricius, 1801 – European forest cockchafer
  • Melolontha incana Motschulsky, 1853
  • Melolontha insulana (Moser, 1918)
  • Melolontha japonica Burmeister, 1855
  • Melolontha kraatzi Reitter 1906
  • Melolontha melolontha (Linnaeus, 1758) – common European cockchafer
  • Melolontha papposa Illiger, 1803
  • Melolontha pectoralis Megerle von Mühlfeld, 1812 – European large cockchafer
  • Melolontha rubiginosa
  • Melolontha rufocrassa Fairmaire, 1889
  • Melolontha satsumaenis Niijima & Kinoshita
  • Melolontha taygetana Rey, 1999
  • Melolontha virescens Brenske, 1896

.mw-parser-output .side-box{margin:4px 0;box-sizing:border-box;border:1px solid #aaa;font-size:88%;line-height:1.25em;background-color:var(--background-color-interactive-subtle,#f8f9fa);color:inherit;display:flow-root}.mw-parser-output .infobox .side-box{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .side-box-abovebelow,.mw-parser-output .side-box-text{padding:0.25em 0.9em}.mw-parser-output .side-box-image{padding:2px 0 2px 0.9em;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .side-box-imageright{padding:2px 0.9em 2px 0;text-align:center}@media(min-width:500px){.mw-parser-output .side-box-flex{display:flex;align-items:center}.mw-parser-output .side-box-text{flex:1;min-width:0}}@media(min-width:640px){.mw-parser-output .side-box{width:238px}.mw-parser-output .side-box-right{clear:right;float:right;margin-left:1em}.mw-parser-output .side-box-left{margin-right:1em}}

@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .sistersitebox{display:none!important}}@media screen{html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .sistersitebox img[src*="Wiktionary-logo-en-v2.svg"]{filter:invert(1)brightness(55%)contrast(250%)hue-rotate(180deg)}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .sistersitebox img[src*="Wiktionary-logo-en-v2.svg"]{filter:invert(1)brightness(55%)contrast(250%)hue-rotate(180deg)}}

.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-2{column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-3{column-width:25em}body.skin-vector-2022 .mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-2{column-width:27em}body.skin-vector-2022 .mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-3{column-width:22.5em}.mw-parser-output .references[data-mw-group=upper-alpha]{list-style-type:upper-alpha}.mw-parser-output .references[data-mw-group=upper-roman]{list-style-type:upper-roman}.mw-parser-output .references[data-mw-group=lower-alpha]{list-style-type:lower-alpha}.mw-parser-output .references[data-mw-group=lower-greek]{list-style-type:lower-greek}.mw-parser-output .references[data-mw-group=lower-roman]{list-style-type:lower-roman}.mw-parser-output div.reflist-liststyle-upper-alpha .references{list-style-type:upper-alpha}.mw-parser-output div.reflist-liststyle-upper-roman .references{list-style-type:upper-roman}.mw-parser-output div.reflist-liststyle-lower-alpha .references{list-style-type:lower-alpha}.mw-parser-output div.reflist-liststyle-lower-greek .references{list-style-type:lower-greek}.mw-parser-output div.reflist-liststyle-lower-roman .references{list-style-type:lower-roman}

.mw-parser-output .asbox{position:relative;overflow:hidden}.mw-parser-output .asbox table{background:transparent}.mw-parser-output .asbox p{margin:0}.mw-parser-output .asbox p+p{margin-top:0.25em}.mw-parser-output .asbox-body{font-style:italic}.mw-parser-output .asbox-note{font-size:smaller}.mw-parser-output .asbox .navbar{position:absolute;top:-0.75em;right:1em;display:none}.mw-parser-output :not(p):not(.asbox)+style+.asbox,.mw-parser-output :not(p):not(.asbox)+link+.asbox{margin-top:3em}