Rapid snap beetle
| Rapid snap beetle | ||||||||||||
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Rose beetle ( Selatosomus aeneus ) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Selatosomus aeneus | ||||||||||||
| ( Linnaeus , 1758) |
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| Fig. 2: underside | |
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Fig. 1: Prosternal suture, right green Prosternal lobe right orange |
Fig. 3: side view |
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Fig. 4: Thigh coverts, green on the right |
Fig. 5: Front view |
The snap beetle ( Selatosomus aeneus ) is a beetle from the family of the click beetles and the subfamily of the Ctenicerinae. The color of the upper side is metallic blue, green or copper, often the pronotum is colored differently than the elytra . The beetle, which is relatively wide for a click beetle, becomes ten to sixteen millimeters long.
The common species is only listed in the Red Lists of Rhineland-Palatinate , where it is classified as not endangered .
Notes on the name
The species was first described by Linnaeus in 1758 under the scientific name Elater aeneus . The short description begins: Elater thorace elytrisque caerulescenti-aeneis ( lat. Click beetle with body and wing covers bluish copper-colored). This explains the species name aeneus (Latin: copper-colored).
The genus Selatosomus was established by the Englishman Stephens in 1830. The generic name Selatosōmus (from ancient Greek σέλας, σέλατος sélas, sélatos, gloss and σώμα sōma, body) expresses that the body has a metallic sheen. Stephens writes: The typical species of this genus are eminently distinguished by the splendor and brilliancy of their coloring, the surface glabrous and richtly adorned with lively metallic hues ( en .: The typical species of this genus are outstanding because of their sheen and brilliance Coloring, the hairless surface decorated with vivid metallic tones is excellent).
The genus Selatosomus is represented in Europe with ten species in two subgenera. Selatosomus aeneus belongs to the subgenus Selatosomus. There are over seventy species worldwide, divided into five subgenus.
Description of the beetle
As a member of the subfamily Ctenicerinae, the forehead ridges , which arise above the antennae in front of the eyes, run diagonally forward, then towards the middle and end before they have reached the middle of the head (Fig. 5). The front chest is fused with the undersides of the pronotum (front chest pisterns) from the head to the front hip cavities. The fusion suture is not deepened to accommodate the antennae and is only set off inwards by a line (simple Prosternal suture, Fig. 1). Compared to the genus Ctenicera , which gives the subfamily its name, the end of the fore-chest towards the head (Prosternal lobe, Mentonnière) is more extended anteriorly and below and is round, not truncated (Fig. 1, marked orange). It covers the mouthparts up to the upper jaw when the beetle lowers its head slightly. At the back, the front breast is drawn out into a long point that can snap into a corresponding recess in the mid-breast and snap out again (clearly visible in Fig. 3). This quick mechanism, typical of the family, enables the beetle to jump into the air from the supine position.
The legs are light reddish to almost black and, like all click beetles, not strong. The tarsi are all five-part. The claws are not serrated or serrated.
The rear hip , which connects to the rear of the rear chest, is hollowed out to partially accommodate the rear thighs. The part that is on the same level as the rear chest is called the thigh ceiling . The thigh coverts in the sniper beetle narrow outwards so that the shiny side of the thigh cavities, which are at the level of the abdomen, can be seen from above (Fig. 2 and 4).
In contrast to Selatosomus cruciatus , the glossy snail beetle has no markings on the upper side and is arched. It appears bald to the naked eye, and in no case does it have predominantly back or predominantly forward hair on the pronotum.
The head is small, less broad than the pronotum in front, and the mouthparts do not point downwards when in rest position, but forwards (prognath). The eleven-segment antennae do not reach the posterior corners of the pronotum. The second link is short, the third elongated, neither of which is enlarged. The following links are slightly enlarged (sawn) inwards, but their expansion is not acute-angled on the outside. The fourth link is no longer than the third, but significantly longer than the fifth.
The pronotum is clearly bordered on the sides, but not in the middle in front. It is as wide or wider as it is long and gradually narrows from the center towards the front. It has long back angles that are only slightly bent outwards and truncated at the end. They are clearly and long keeled, the keel moves forward slightly from the lateral edge of the pronotum.
The elytra are only slightly wider than the pronotum and at most twice as long as wide. They are fine (different from Selatosomus melancholicus ) and furrowed without interruptions (different from Selatosomus rugosus ). They are more arched than in Selatosomus globicollis .
Occurrence
The animals occur in Europe and Siberia mainly in coniferous and deciduous forests but also in fields and meadows .
Way of life
The beetles, which are active in the evening, usually look for food on the ground because they are not very good at flying. During the day they usually stay on the ground under stones. Like all click beetles, the glossy jump beetle has a hook-like appendage and a small hollow on the underside of the thorax. By pressing the extension into the hollow, the beetle shoots into the air and can thus straighten up again if it has fallen on its back.
The female can lay up to 300 eggs in the ground from which the light yellow larvae hatch. They live in the ground and feed on roots , but also on beetle larvae. The larvae are called wireworms . They only pupate in the ground after five years. The beetles that hatch in autumn then hibernate in the ground until they crawl out of the earth in spring.
nutrition
The larvae feed on roots as well as small worms and insects . The beetles have a purely vegetable diet, they particularly like to eat flowers.
literature
- Harde, Severa: Der Kosmos Käferführer, The Central European Beetles , Franckh-Kosmos Verlags-GmbH & Co, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-440-06959-1
- Heinz Joy, Karl Wilhelm Harde, Gustav Adolf Lohse: The beetles of Central Europe . tape 6 : Diversicornia . Spectrum, Heidelberg 1979, ISBN 3-87263-027-X .
- Klaus Koch : The Beetles of Central Europe Ecology . 1st edition. tape 2 . Goecke & Evers, Krefeld 1989, ISBN 3-87263-040-7 . P. 74
Individual evidence
- ↑ Red lists at BioNetworkX
- ↑ C.Linnaeus: Systema Naturae per Regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata Stockholm 1758 first description page 406 no.21
- ↑ Sigmund Schenkling: Nomenclator coleopterologus 2nd edition Jena 1922 Explanation of the scientific beetle names (species) in short form
- ↑ Sigmund Schenkling: Nomenclator coleopterologus 2nd edition Jena 1922 Explanation of the scientific beetle names (genus) in short form
- ↑ James Francis Stephens: Illustrations of British Entomology… Mandibulata Vol. III, London 1830 Description of the genus Selatosomus Genus 227 p. 268
- ↑ Selatosomus in Fauna Europaea. Retrieved March 22, 2013
- ↑ Selatosomus (Selatosomus) aeneus in Fauna Europaea
- ↑ Subgenera of the genus Selatosomus at BioLib
