#maybug

[maureen2musings]

Maybeetle

the.lost.woods

[critter-creature-or-beast]

This is a...

critter

creature

beast

Voting ended onJan 19

Image 1 by Cosimo Costanzia di Costigliole CC-BY

Image 2 by John Reeves, CC-BY-NC

Submitted for classification by @deathcook123

"I have two possible choices for you, either the Common Cockchafer or the Goblin Shark

You choose which (if either) gets a poll"

[podartists]

Plate VII | The butterfly vivarium; or, Insect home (1858) | Henry Noel Humphreys

[otvian-the-maybug]

Bug mail stamps made in paint for my graphic design classes!

I got max grade for these!

Bujanka - Beefly

Rybik Cukrowy - Silverfish

Chrabąszcz Majowy - Maybug,

Komar - Mosquito,

Pluskwa - Bedbug,

Kowal Bezskrzydły - Firebug

I wanted them to look cute to show bugs in a nicer view

[photo-stock-and-refs]

[bugs-in-the-meadow]

I was getting a late night snack when I heard something bump into the door, and when I went out to check I found this little maybug stuck on his back. I helped him up and he flew in, so I took a few pictures before taking him out to find a bush. I've never held one before, eat least not an alive one (I've collected a few dead ones over the years), and was surprised by how clingy and scratchy their feet are.

Maybugs, Melolontha melolontha, are also known as cockchafer beetles. They have several other names too, my favourite of which is snartlegog. A delight.

This one is most likely a common maybug, and I think it's a male. Males have seven lamellae - the leaf-like parts on the tip of their antenna - on each side, while females only have six. Females also have a notably pointier part on the end of their abdomen, which is the ovipositor, for laying eggs.

Maybugs apparently spend up to 5 years underground as grubs, and once they emerge, in the summer months, they only last for around six more weeks. They're often seen at night, flying around rather haphazardly, and while they're quite loud and can be surprising, they're not harmful (unless you're grass).

Sources & more info:

Maybug - Buglife Blog - Buglife

Find out more about Maybug in the Buglife blog.

An online resource devoted to North American insects, spiders and their kin, offering identification, images, and information.

[kamik-arting]

Saw those idiots flying in my backyard last week. The silliest bugs I've ever saw irl

[beautifulfartgalaxy]

female cockchafer sketchhh

i started a more technical one but that's for later. enjoy the fur on this lady for now :)