---
title: "Summer Chafer"
description: "Amphimallon solstitiale — Insects & spiders. Amphimallon solstitiale, also known as the summer chafer or European june beetle, is a beetle similar to the cockchafer but much smaller, approximately 20 millimetres (0.79 in) in length."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/summer-chafer
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Summer Chafer

> Amphimallon solstitiale — Insects & spiders. Amphimallon solstitiale, also known as the summer chafer or European june beetle, is a beetle similar to the cockchafer but much smaller, approximately 20 millimetres (0.79 in) in length.

- Scientific name: *Amphimallon solstitiale*
- Category: `insects` (Insects & spiders)
- Habitats: `urban` (Towns & gardens)
- iNaturalist observations: 17142
- Wikidata: [Q768766](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q768766)
- iNaturalist taxon: [451915](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/451915)

## Names

- en: Summer Chafer
- de: Gerippter Brachkäfer
- fr: Hanneton de la Saint-Jean
- nl: Junikever
- pl: Guniak czerwczyk

## Countries with the most observations

DE (1541), DK (1193), GB (1161), RU (1002), CZ (614), PL (527), AT (501), UA (349), SE (338), IT (330), FR (284), FI (200)

## Summary

Amphimallon solstitiale, also known as the summer chafer or European june beetle, is a beetle similar to the cockchafer but much smaller, approximately 20 millimetres (0.79 in) in length. They are declining in numbers now, but where found they are often seen in large numbers. At dusk they actively fly around tree tops looking for a mate and can often be found drowning in pools of water the following morning. They are also attracted to light and come in through open, lit windows and fly around lamps, making quite a racket while bumping into lights. They are found throughout the Palearctic region (and North America…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amphimallon_solstitiale

## Photo

![Summer Chafer](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/summer-chafer/medium.jpg)

Photo: Liubov Ilminska · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/124345098

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/summer-chafer?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).