''Phyllopertha horticola'', the garden chafer or garden foliage beetle, is a beetle from the family

Scarabaeidae The family Scarabaeidae, as currently defined, consists of over 30,000 species of beetles worldwide; they are often called scarabs or scarab beetles. The classification of this family has undergone significant change in recent years. Several sub ...

. ''Phyllopertha horticola'' was described by

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

in his landmark 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae''.

Variety

*''Phyllopertha horticola'' var. ''ustulatipennis'' A. Villa & G. B. Villa, 1833

Distribution

This rather common species is widely widespread in Europe and in Asia, east to

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

and

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...

. In the north of Europe their distribution reaches the middle

Fennoscandia __NOTOC__ Fennoscandia (Finnish language, Finnish, Swedish language, Swedish and no, Fennoskandia, nocat=1; russian: Фенноскандия, Fennoskandiya) or the Fennoscandian Peninsula is the geographical peninsula in Europe, which includes ...

and includes the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...

, in southern Europe it mainly occurs in the mountains. It is the only European representative of the genus ''Phyllopertha''.

Habitat

These beetles inhabit bushes, hedgerows, woodland edges, meadows and fields, from the lowlands to mountainous areas. They also live in parks and gardens, hence the common name of garden chafer.

Description

''Phyllopertha horticola'' is approximately in size.Bloomsbur
''Concise Insect Guide''
/ref> Unlike ''

Mimela ''Mimela'' is a genus of shining leaf chafer belonging to the family Scarabaeidae subfamily Rutelinae. Species Species within this genus include: * '' Mimela abdominalis'' * '' Mimela aenigma'' * '' Mimela amabilis'' * '' Mimela amauropyga'' * ...

'' of the same family, these beetles have a non-ovoid body. They have chestnut-brown wing casings which are covered with a long upright pubescence. On each elytron run six longitudinal bands of small dots. Head and thorax are finely granulated. Head, thorax and legs are shiny dark green or bluish. The underside of the body is also green. The antennas are very short and end in a fan-like group of three lamellae, with which the beetle perceives fragrances.

Biology

The adult beetle can be seen from April to July, especially in late spring and early summer. In June they can be encountered in a particularly large number. Adults live for up to eight weeks. Females lay 15-25 eggs in the ground at a depth of 10–15 cm. After a period of 4–6 weeks they hatch and larvae grow up to 2 cm in length and develop in the soil. Larvae take 2–3 years to develop. They overwinter in the ground. In April, they migrate to deeper soil layers to turn into a

chrysalis A pupa ( la, pupa, "doll"; plural: ''pupae'') is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their ...

and hatch in May into an

imago In biology, the imago (Latin for "image") is the last stage an insect attains during its metamorphosis, its process of growth and development; it is also called the imaginal stage, the stage in which the insect attains maturity. It follows the f ...

, allowing an adult insect to emerge. The males swarm first; the females follow with a few days delay. The females are mated very quickly by flying around males.Koppertus
/ref> Larvae and beetles are considered an agricultural pest. Beetles damage leaves, flowers and developing fruits of many deciduous trees and shrubs (mainly oak leaves, hazelnut and birch leaves, as well as cherry and rose petals). Larval stages will feed on roots of clover, grasses and crops (cereals, cabbages, cucumbers, beets, peas).Patrick Hann, Claus Trska, Katharina F. Wechselberger, Josef Eitzinger, and Bernhard Krom
"''Phyllopertha horticola'' (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) larvae in eastern Austrian mountainous grasslands and the associated damage risk related to soil, topography and management"
/ref>

Gallery

Rutelidae - Phyllopertha horticola (mating).JPG, Mating couple Garden Chafer. Phyllopertha horticola. Take off. - Flickr - gailhampshire.jpg, Take off Phyllopertha horticola (Linné, 1758) (19508202429).png, Mounted specimen Phyllopertha horticola.ogv, Video clip Escarabajo (Phyllopertha horticola), Hartelholz, Múnich, Alemania, 2020-06-21, DD 46-56 FS.jpg, Detail of the head

References

{{Taxonbar , from=Q378023 Scarabaeidae Beetles described in 1758 Articles containing video clips