Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Fig. 60 Antenna of a chafer beetle - superfamily
Scarabaeoidea.
Fig. 62 Head and pronotum of a click beetle -
superfamily Elateroidea.
lontha
(cockchafer); Rutelinae -
Phyllopertha
hordeola
(garden chafer).
Superfamily
ELATEROIDEA
Elongate beetles with the head largely retracted
into the thorax; pronotum usually with acute and
projecting hind angles
(Fig. 62).
Fig. 61 A chafer grub - family Scarabaeidae.
6. Family ELATERIDAE (click beetles)
(p. 132
et seq.)
5. Family SCARABAEIDAE (chafers,
dung beetles, etc.)
(p. 129
et seq.)
A large family of phytophagous beetles; adults
possess the ability to propel themselves into the
air with an audible click by articulating the body
between the pro- and mesothorax (there being
a distinctive, peg-like 'spring' - the prosternal
process - located between the first two pairs of
legs); tibiae with two spurs. Larvae elongate,
cylindrical and strongly sclerotized (commonly
known as 'wireworms'); antennae and legs short;
ninth abdominal segment with a pair of sensory
dorsolateral pits (subfamily Elaterinae); tenth
abdominal segment forming a ventral pseudopod
(Fig.
63).
EXAMPLES:
Athoinae -
Athous haemor-
rhoidalis
(garden click beetle); Ctenicerinae -
Ctenicera
spp. (upland click beetles);
Elaterinae -
Agriotes
spp. (common click
beetles).
An exceedingly large family of often large to
very large, convex beetles; adults often brightly
coloured, with a metallic sheen; antennae 8-
to 10-segmented; abdomen with six visible
sternites. Larvae typical of the superfamily; fea-
tures of the anal segment (including the shape of
the anal slit and the distribution of chitinized
spines which are often arranged in a distinctive
pattern) are often useful for distinguishing be-
tween species. Chafer larvae are soil-inhabiting
and sluggish; they feed on decaying vegetable
matter and plant roots.
EXAMPLES:
Cetoniinae -
Cetonia aurata
(rose chafer); Melolonthinae -
Amphimallon
solstitialis
(summer chafer),
Melolontha melo-
