Ant bag beetles
| Ant bag beetles | ||||||||||||
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Ant bag beetle ( Clytra laeviuscula ) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Clytra laeviuscula | ||||||||||||
| Ratzeburg , 1837 |
The ant bag beetle or ant leaf beetle ( Clytra laeviuscula ) is a species of beetle from the family of leaf beetles (Chrysomelidae).
features
The beetles are 7 to 11 millimeters long and have a cylindrical body. The wings are reddish-orange to orange-yellow and each have a small black spot on the shoulder as well as a wide, black band approximately in the middle of the wings. This becomes narrower at the wing cover seam and the wing cover sides, which means that it is divided into two rounded spots. Occasionally these two spots are again divided, connected to one another beyond the seam, or completely absent. The rest of the body, like the pronotum, is black. The latter is almost smooth and has a very narrow, channel-shaped side edge. The species can be confused with the very similar Clytra quadripunctata . However, this species has less pronounced black spots on the wings and a broad pronotum with a wrinkled edge.
Occurrence
The species is found in almost all of Europe, with the exception of the far north, as well as Ireland, Portugal and Greece. The animals colonize various habitats such as sunny forest edges and dry slopes, but also river meadows and parks. The species is common from May to August.
Way of life
The adults feed on hawthorns , ash trees and willows , where they can usually be found. The beetles mate near ant nests, the eggs are covered with scales made of excrement and dropped. The ants eventually carry them to their nest. In the nest, the beetle larvae feed on the food of the brood of ants as well as on waste and sometimes also on the brood. They build a cover of excrement ( skatoconche ) around them, which protects them from the ants. Pupation takes place in the ant nest, also protected by the faecal cover. The young adults only hatch when their chitin shell has hardened and finally leave the nest. If the animals are attacked, they pretend to be dead ( thanatose ).
supporting documents
Individual evidence
- ^ Clytra laeviuscula. Fauna Europaea, accessed September 3, 2009 .
literature
- Ekkehard Wachmann , Georg Möller, Reiner Grube: The Fauna Käferführer I - Beetles in and around the forest Fauna-Verlag, Nottuln 2006, ISBN 3-935980-25-6 .
- Edmund Reitter : Fauna Germanica - The beetles of the German Empire. Volume 4, KG Lutz, Stuttgart 1912
