Melolontha is a genus of beetles in the family Scarabaeidae. The European cockchafers belong to this genus.
Taxonomy
Linnaeus called the European cockchafer Scarabaeus melolontha. ÃÂtienne Louis Geoffroy used Melolontha as a genus name (1762), but his book has been suppressed by the International Commission of Zoological Nomenclature, and the authority for the name is the later (1775) publication by Johan Christian Fabricius.
Species
The following is a list of species within the genus Melolontha:
- Melolontha aceris <small>Faldermann, 1835</small>
- Melolontha afflicta <small>Ballion, 1870</small>
- Melolontha albida <small>Frivaldszky, 1835</small>
- Melolontha anita <small>Reitter, 1902</small>
- Melolontha argus <small>Burmeister 1855</small>
- Melolontha bifurcata <small>(Brenske, 1896)</small>
- Melolontha chinensis <small>(Guerin, 1838)</small>
- Melolontha ciliciensis <small>Petrovitz</small>
- Melolontha flabellata <small>Sharp, 1876</small>
- Melolontha frater <small>Arrow, 1913</small> â Indonesia
- Melolontha fuscotestacea <small>Kraatz, 1887</small>
- Melolontha guttigera <small>Sharp, 1876</small>
- Melolontha hippocastani <small>Fabricius, 1801</small> â European forest cockchafer
- Melolontha incana <small>Motschulsky, 1853</small>
- Melolontha insulana <small>(Moser, 1918)</small>
- Melolontha japonica <small>Burmeister, 1855</small>
- Melolontha kraatzi <small>Reitter 1906</small>
- Melolontha melolontha <small>(Linnaeus, 1758)</small> â common European cockchafer
- Melolontha papposa <small>Illiger, 1803</small>
- Melolontha pectoralis <small>Megerle von Mühlfeld, 1812</small> â European large cockchafer
- Melolontha rubiginosa
- Melolontha rufocrassa <small>Fairmaire, 1889</small>
- Melolontha satsumaenis <small>Niijima & Kinoshita</small>
- Melolontha taygetana <small>Rey, 1999</small>
- Melolontha virescens <small>Brenske, 1896</small>
References