The Cockchafer - On Trial and on the Menu
The European cockchafer (Order Coleoptera, Family Scarabaeidae, Melontha sp.) was a major agricultural pest in Europe's past. The beetle's eggs are laid 10-20cm below ground and buried, and the hatched larvae can cause significant damage to the young roots of cereal grains and other staple crops (such as potatoes). The larvae develops into an adult after 3-5 years, and will afterward live above ground and feed extensively on oak or conifer leaves.
The episodic emergence of adult cockchafers results in huge population surges every few years, and also result in swarms of tens of thousands approximately every 30 years. The huge adult populations can decimate forestry industries, and the larvae can cause extensive crop and pasture damage.
In the Middle Ages, pest control options were limited. As the larvae were hard to remove from the ground, adults instead were captured and killed in an attempt to reduce egg laying. In 1320, cockchafers were brought to court in Avignon, France, to stand trial for their actions, and sentenced to leave or be killed. Not surprisingly, the cockchafers did not comply, and were collected and killed. Since then, extensive use of pesticides have greatly reduced and locally exterminated populations--though with greater pesticide restrictions since the 1970s, their numbers are beginning to rise.
Cockchafers were also collected as a food source, cooked into soups or stews. As it has happened many times in history, when insect plagues have devastated agriculture and consumed large amounts of crops, people are forced to consume the insects.
And I have absolutely no idea about the etymology of the common name...
Word of the Day - "Balloonatic": A person who is balloon-mad; a balloonist, specifically a member of a balloon corps or balloon squadron during WWI
