Subfamily: Rutelinae (leaf chafers [part], white grubs [part], monkey 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

Distinguished from other Scarabaeidae by the tarsal claws which, especially on the hindlegs, are unequally sized and movable. Larvae are known as white grubs, a term also used for larvae of the subfamily Melolonthinae. They feed on plant litter and plant roots in the soil, and can be serious pests of cultivated crops and lawns. 

The most diverse group of rutelines in southern Africa is the tribe Hopliini in which adults are often brightly coloured and hairy with large powerful hind legs and usually encountered in flowers. 

Tribe Adoretini. Adoretus ictericus (Wattle chafer), 13mm. [image by M. Picker & C. Griffiths ©, from Field Guide to Insects of South Africa, used with permission].	Tribe Anomalini. Popillia biguttata, (Yellow shining leaf chafer), 14mm. [image by A. Weaving ©, from Field Guide to Insects of South Africa, used with permission].
Tribe Hopliini. Lepithrix pseudolineata (Spider monkey beetle), 9mm. [image by M. Picker & C. Griffiths ©, from Field Guide to Insects of South Africa, used with permission].

 Page by Margie Cochrane