Identification
Golden-yellow to reddish-brown scarab, frequents flowers, long, spiny legs. M. subspinosus and M. angustatus are very similar and have to be keyed carefully.
Habitat
Old fields, gardens, edges with vines
Season
May-August (eastern North Carolina), listed May-July for South Carolina.
Food
Adult is herbivore, feeds on wide variety of flowers and foliage.
Life Cycle
Adults emerge in early summer and feed on flowers, some leaves. They live for up to 6 weeks. Mating occurs on food sources. Eggs are laid deep (13-15 cm!) in soil and hatch in one to three weeks. Larve feed on roots and overwinter deep in soil. Pupation occurs in early spring in the soil, just under the surface.
Adults contain cantharadin, can poison chickens, other birds.
Remarks
Considered a pest species, to some extent. Some sources list the species name as "subspinosa" and others as "subspinosus".
Guide TBA--PC (This material, and photos, should probably be moved to genus level due to difficulty distinguishing subspinosus from angustatus.)
Contributed by
Cotinis on 22 March, 2004 - 11:50am
Last updated 31 October, 2004 - 10:32am
