Spotted tooth rim jewel beetle
| Spotted tooth rim jewel beetle | ||||||||||||
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Spotted tooth rim jewel beetle |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Trachypteris picta | ||||||||||||
| ( Pallas , 1773) |
The spotted tooth edge jewel beetle ( Trachypteris picta ) is a beetle from the family of the jewel beetle and the subfamily Buprestinae . In Europe it occurs only in the subspecies Trachyptera picta decostigma . The beetle is very rare in Central Europe. It is listed in Appendix 1 to the Federal Species Protection Ordinance as a "strictly protected beetle".
The German name alludes to the fact that the wing covers are spotted yellow and their rear edge is toothed (Fig. 4). The generic name "Trachyptera" means "with rough wings" ( Gr. Τραχύς = rough, Gr. Πτερόν = wings), Latin "picta" means "brightly spotted".
The species was previously assigned to the genus Melanophila . The genus Trachypteris lacks a broad, rounded depression on the side of the mid-breast next to the front edge, which is present in Melanophila as part of a sensory organ for infrared radiation .
Characteristics of the beetle
The body is 2.5 to three times as long as it is wide and slightly arched. Seen from above, the sides of the body are largely parallel. The beetle is coppery in color, but in bright light it hardly stands out from the gray bark of the poplar on which it usually hangs out.
The head is much wider than it is long, the mouthparts point downwards. The large eyes are flat, their rear edge runs parallel to the pronotum at a small distance (Fig. 2). The head shield is cut out in an approximately triangular shape (Fig. 8, section on the right traced in yellow). The eleven-link antennae are thread-shaped and short. Only from the fourth link onwards are they widened slightly triangularly inwards (Fig. 7). The antennae arise apart from each other near the front edge of the eyes (Fig. 8).
The pronotum is all about the same tight and regularly in the European subspecies spotted in Trachypteris picta picta points are especially fine on the disk and sparse. The pronotum is slightly and roughly equally narrowed to the front and back. The base of the pronotum is curved in a double arch.
The elytra are dense and irregularly dotted and have 3 or four longitudinal ribs, which in the European subspecies Trachypteris picta decostigma can be very weak, but in Trachypteris picta picta they are more concise. The outer edge of the wing covers is serrated, especially in the rear area, at the rear end the wing covers are individually rounded (Fig. 4). In the case of the European subspecies, a circle of 8 yellowish spots can typically be seen on the two elytra together behind the first third. In front of this there are two more spots of the same color on each wing cover, which are arranged in a circle together with the front spots of the back circle. However, the front spots can also be missing. In the nominate form Trachypteris picta picta , the yellow spots are larger and more numerous. The label is very small.
 Fig. 1: Top side Fig. 2: Side view Fig. 3: Front view Fig. 4: Wing cover tip    |
 Fig. 5: Underside Fig. 6: Side of the chest Fig. 7: Feeler Fig. 8: Head, right yellow: edge of the head shield    |
On the underside of the abdomen you can see 8 sections (sternites). The last sternite is arched out at the rear end and drawn out into a spike on the right and left of the cutout (Fig. 5). The middle hips and back hips are expanded inward. The extension of the front breast (prosternal process) extending backwards between the front hips ends in a corresponding depression in the mid-breast (Fig. 5).
The legs are strong and enable quick movement. The tarsi are all five-limbed, the claws are imperforate.
biology
The larvae develop under the bark of various poplar and willow species . In warm weather, the adult beetles walk around the trees very quickly and fly up quickly. The eggs are laid individually in cracks in the bark or on the side buds of ailing trees.
According to a study in Karaj ( Iran ), the ovaries of the females contain between around 50 to 160 eggs, of which around 8 to 22 eggs are laid. The larvae hatch after 7 - 8 days. The larvae initially feed in the bark or directly below in the phloem and cambium . In the sapwood they create larval ducts up to 10 cm long. The overwintering takes place in the last larval stage . The larvae become active again in early spring. Dolls will be found from mid-April. The puppet rest lasts one to three weeks. The life cycle lasts one year. Slightly more males than females were counted (1.14: 1). Ichneumonids from the families Encyrtidae , Braconidae , Ichneumonidae and Chalcicidae were found to be parasites , and the predatory ant Lasius alinus preyed on larvae of Trachypteris picta . The parasitic infestation by braconids was estimated at a good 4% in the year of observation, that by ichneumonids was extrapolated to just under 18%.
distribution
The species is distributed in the Palearctic , the subspecies Trachypteris picta decostigma occurs in Central and Southern Europe, from the Iberian Peninsula to the Caucasus , Syria , Lebanon , Israel and North Africa . The distribution of the eastern subspecies extends from Siberia to China . The spotted tooth-rim jewel beetle has now also been reported from Chile .
literature
- Heinz Joy, Karl Wilhelm Harde, Gustav Adolf Lohse: The beetles of Central Europe . tape 6 : Diversicornia . Spectrum, Heidelberg 1979, ISBN 3-87263-027-X .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Trachypteris picta in Fauna Europaea. Retrieved January 7, 2011
- ↑ Gustav Adolf Lohse, Wilhelm H. Lucht: Die Käfer Mitteleuropas . tape 13 , 2nd supplement volume with catalog section. Goecke & Evers, Krefeld 1992, ISBN 3-87263-043-1 .
- ↑ a b c Photos to compare the two subspecies
- ↑ BABMORAD M., ABAEI MANSOUR, ZEYNALI SATAR: Biological study of Melanophila (= Trachypteris) picta (Col .: Buprestidae) in Karaj. Applied Entomology and Phytopathology 75 (2 (84)) March 2008: p. 55–71 Summary in the SID ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Occurrence in Chile
