About Polyphylla olivieri (Castelnau, 1840)
Polyphylla olivieri is a species of beetle in the family Scarabaeidae. Its distribution ranges across Transcaucasia, from Greece to Turkey, Georgia, Armenia, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Azerbaijan, and Iran. Adult body length is 30–37.8 mm, and body width is 14.2–18.5 mm. Adults are black or brownish black, with forewings covered in white marbled spots. The antennal club is black and brown. Unlike the pine chafer (Polyphylla fullo), which lives on sands, P. olivieri lives on dense, loamy soils. This species lays up to 40 eggs. The larva is yellow, shaped like a curved arc, and reaches 8 cm long. It overwinters in soil multiple times, because a single generation takes 3–5 years to develop. Larvae feed on plant roots, especially those of young vines and fruit trees.
