European chafer
Scientific name: Amphimallon majale (Razoumowsky, 1789)
Overview
The European chafer is a beetle of the family Scarabaeidae. Formerly found only in continental Europe, this invasive species is now found at temperate latitudes in North America. The large, white grubs of A. majale feed on the roots of most cool-latitude grasses, both wild and cultivated. This has made the European chafer an enemy of lawns.
From the Wikipedia article “European chafer”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Where it lives
The Catalogue of Life records it in: Palaearctic(Belgium, France, Germany, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland), Nearctic(Canada:British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec, USA:California, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, West Virginia, i.
Common names
Names in other languages (1)
- Persian
- سوسک قهوهای غلات
Related animals
Sources
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Catalogue of Life — scientific name, classification, common names and range.
Version 2026-09-11, CC BY 4.0.
This species in the Catalogue of Life.
Citation
Bánki, O., Roskov, Y., Döring, M., Ower, G., Hernández Robles, D. R., Plata Corredor, C. A., Stjernegaard Jeppesen, T., Örn, A., Pape, T., Hobern, D., Garnett, S., Little, H., DeWalt, R. E., Miller, J., Orrell, T., Aalbu, R., Abbott, J., Aedo, C., Aescht, E., et al. (2026). Catalogue of Life (Version 2026-09-11). Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgz5n Source database: World Scarabaeidae Database.
- GBIF — species page and recorded occurrences.
- Wikidata — names in other languages. Q14594990, CC0 1.0.
- Wikipedia — overview, from the article “European chafer”, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Photo — Mike Reding & Betsy Anderson, USDA Agricultural Research Service, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. File page.
Last updated: 4 October 2026