cockchafer maybeetle vs gray wolf

Melolontha melolontha compared with Canis lupus

Key Differences

  • cockchafer maybeetle is Least Concern while gray wolf is Critically Endangered.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank cockchafer maybeetle gray wolf
Kingdom same Animalia (動物) Animalia (動物)
Phylum Arthropoda (節足動物) Chordata (脊索動物)
Class Insecta (昆虫) Mammalia (哺乳類)
Order Coleoptera (コウチュウ目) Carnivora (ネコ目)
Family Scarabaeidae Canidae (Dogs & Wolves)
Genus Melolontha Canis (Dogs & Wolves)
Species Melolontha melolontha Canis lupus

Evolutionary Relationship

cockchafer maybeetle and gray wolf share a common ancestor at the Kingdom level: Animalia. (動物)

Conservation Status

cockchafer maybeetle

LC — Least Concern

gray wolf

CR — Critically Endangered

Population: ~300.0K

Trend: Stable →

Physical Characteristics

Attribute cockchafer maybeetle gray wolf
Diet Carnivore
Average Lifespan 13 years
Average Length 1.6 m
Average Weight 45.0 kg

Habitat & Geographic Range

cockchafer maybeetle

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Distributed across Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland.

gray wolf

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, deserts and xeric shrublands, and tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests, among 13 distinct biome types. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (Seychelles), Asia (Japan), Europe (5 countries), North America (7 countries), Oceania and the Pacific (Marshall Islands, Vanuatu), and South America (5 countries). Currently classified as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

cockchafer maybeetle

The cockchafer or maybeetle (Melolontha melolontha) is a large scarab beetle in the family Scarabaeidae, native to temperate Europe from the British Isles east across the continent to western Russia and the Caucasus. Adults, measuring 25–30 millimetres in length, are robust insects with chestnut-brown elytra, a distinctive fan-shaped antennal club, and a pointed abdomen tip. Emergent flights typically occur in May — hence the alternate name maybug — when adults aggregate in trees to feed on leaves and mate in sometimes spectacular swarms. The life cycle is three to five years long: eggs are laid in soil, and the pale C-shaped larvae spend multiple years underground feeding on plant roots, particularly those of grasses and agricultural crops, before pupating and completing metamorphosis. This subterranean larval phase can cause significant damage to pastures, cereals, and turf. Historically abundant across Europe, populations of M. melolontha declined dramatically during the twentieth century due to widespread use of soil insecticides in agriculture. Following restrictions on persistent organochlorine pesticides, populations have partially recovered in several countries, including Germany, Switzerland, and France, sometimes reaching pest status again. The species is classified as Least Concern by the IUCN but remains a subject of integrated pest management research. Natural enemies include rooks, badgers, moles, and various insect parasitoids that attack larvae in soil.

gray wolf

最も広い分布域を持つ野生のイヌ科動物であるハイイロオオカミは、北アメリカからユーラシアにかけてのツンドラ、森林、草原などの多様な生息地に分布します。優位な繁殖ペアに率いられた家族単位の群れで生活する高度に社会的な動物です。キーストーン捕食者として獲物個体群を調整し、生態系の構造を根本的に形成することは、イエローストーンでの再導入により実証されています。かつて激しく迫害されましたが、多くの地域で個体群は回復しつつあります。

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 4 countries:

Nature FYI Family

Explore more of the natural world across our sister sites.

Part of the Nature FYI family — FYIPedia