Melolonthinae (leaf chafers, white grubs, Christmas beetles)

Subfamily: Melolonthinae (leaf chafers, white grubs, Christmas beetles)

Life > Eukaryotes > Opisthokonta > Metazoa (animals) > Bilateria > Ecdysozoa > Panarthropoda > Tritocerebra > Arthopoda > Mandibulata > Atelocerata > Panhexapoda > Hexapoda > Insecta (insects) > Dicondyla > Pterygota > Metapterygota > Neoptera > Eumetabola > Holometabola > Coleoptera (beetles) > Polyphaga > Superfamily: Scarabaeoidea > Family: Scarabaeidae

These are the brown beetles that fly clumsily into lights at night. Many of the non-hopline Ruteline beetles have a similar colour and habit.


Hypopholis sommeri (Rose chafer, Large wattle chafer), 18mm. [image by A. Weaving ©, from Field Guide to Insects of South Africa, used with permission].	Sparrmannia flava (Woolly chafer), 24mm. [image by M. Picker & C. Griffiths ©, from Field Guide to Insects of South Africa, used with permission].

Page by Margie Cochrane