Any of several species of scarab beetle (most in the subfamily Melolonthinae). Adult leaf chafers (genus Macrodactylus) eat foliage; the female deposits her eggs in the soil, and the larvae live underground for years, feeding on plant roots. The well-known rose chafer, a tan, long-legged beetle, feeds on the flowers and foliage of grapes, roses, and other plants. Poultry that eat rose-chafer grubs may be poisoned