Chafer grubs

Abstract

The grubs of five species of chafer beetle are pests of local importance in Britain. The cockchafer or maybug (Melolontha melolontha (L.)) occurs mainly in southern England; the garden chafer (Phyllopertha horticola (L.)) in western Scotland, parts of Wales, the Lake District and the southern counties of England; the summer chafer (Amphimallon solstitialis (L.)) mainly in the southern half of England; while the Welsh chafer (Hoplia philanthus (Füessly)) and brown chafer (Serica brunnea (L.)) are very local pests in western and northern districts. Adults of a foreign pest species —the Japanese beetle (Popillia japonica Newman) — are sometimes found in aircraft arriving from N. America.