Great elm jewel beetle

Great elm jewel beetle
Big elm borer ( Ovalisia mirifica )
Systematics
Subordination : Polyphaga Family : Jewel beetle (Buprestidae) Subfamily : Chrysochroinae Genre : Ovalisia Subgenus : Scintillate matrix Type : Great elm jewel beetle
Scientific name
Ovalisia mirifica
( Mulsant , 1855)

Pictures of the great elm jewel beetle
Image 1: from the side
	Image 3: from below
	Image 4: from the front
Image 2: Partial view of the underside on the right, partially colored green: Prosternal process Front chest blue: Middle chest yellow: Rear chest orange: Hind hips
	Image 5: Label, outline traced on the right
Rear margin of the anal segment of females of two species in comparison, traced on the right
Image 6: Great elm jewel beetle	Photo 7: Large linden beetle

The Big elm borer ( Ovalisia mirifica ) is a beetle from the family of jewel beetles (Buprestidae). It does not lose its emerald green to blue iridescent metallic coloration even decades after its death, as it is largely caused not by pigments but by interference when the light rays are refracted.

In Appendix 1 to the Federal Species Protection Ordinance , the species is listed under Strictly Protected Beetles , in the list of endangered animals in Germany it is listed as threatened with extinction (Category 1), also in Brandenburg . The beetle is considered to be extinct in Baden-Württemberg , but individual finds are known.

Comments on the name and system

The species was first described by Mulsant in 1855 under the name Lampra mirifica . Because of the great similarity to the Art Lampra dives , which in turn is synonymous with Lampra decipiens , all literature references are to be questioned very critically.

The species name mirífica ( Latin for wonderful) expresses the impression the color of this beetle makes on the observer. However, this property in no way delimits the species from its related species, because rutilans (Latin: shimmering reddish) and dives (Latin: rich) also impress with their golden-green color. The synonym gloriosoides (Latin and. Give a wiki. : By type of Glorious) refers to the magnificent colors. A reliable feature for separating mirifica and dives is only known from the middle of the 20th century.

The genus Ovalisia was first established by Kerreman in 1900. It is considered a synonym for Lampra . The subgenus Scintillatrix , which was established by Obenberger in 1956, is now partially seen again as a genus , and Ovalisia as a subgenus of Lamprodila . In addition to Ovalisia and Scintillatrix, the generic name is often Poecilonota and Lampra , and there are other synonyms . The German name "Ulmenprachtkäfer" (elm splendor beetle) is often used because the species develops exclusively in elm . However, there is a small species of the genus Anthaxia called the small elm jewel beetle , so the detailed name "large elm jewel beetle" is preferable.

According to the opinion represented here, the genus Ovalisia is represented in Europe with two subgenera and nine species.

features

The body is more than two and a half times as long as it is wide and flattened. In the middle, the sides run parallel. The golden-green color predominates, which changes into golden-yellow to red-gold on the sides of the pronotum and the wing covers . The beetle becomes 7.5 to fourteen millimeters long.

The head is much wider than it is long when viewed from above. The eyes take up the majority of the sides of the head, their rear edge lies largely on the pronotum (Fig. 1). The eleven-part feelers are widened inwards from the fifth part (sawn, Fig. 4). The upper lip is rectangular and cut out in front, the upper jaws are strong, curved and cut out on the inside. The end links of the jaw button and the lip button are short and sloping. In contrast to the jeweled willow beetle ( Ovalisia dives ), there is no flat bump on the forehead .

The pronotum tapers in front to the width of the head, at the base it is widest. In the middle it has a dark vertical stripe.

The elytra are somewhat wider between the shoulders than the pronotum, behind the middle they are somewhat widened, behind that the outer edge is slightly sawn. At the end, the wing covers are trimmed together and serrated irregularly. The perforation is stronger than that of the great linden beetle ( Ovalisia rutilans ) and weaker than that of the great willow beetle. The wing covers are striped lengthways. The spaces between the stripes are flat, the raised dark rectangular spots (lattice spots, window spots) are more numerous than on the great linden beetle.

The scutellum is only about twice as wide as it is long, because the corner at the back in the middle (suture corner) is clearly pronounced (Fig. 5, orange traced on the right). The pointed lateral rear corners are further apart than the blunt front corners.

The underside and legs are also metallic green. The cavities in which the front hips are turned are open to the rear. They are separated by a broad extension of the front breast (picture 2, right green), which apparently separates the middle breast (picture 2, right blue). This process is only sparsely punctured in the female and almost smooth along the middle. In the male it is densely hairy (pubescent). The hind hips (picture 2, right orange) lie broadly against the rear breast (picture 2, right yellow) and are hollowed out towards the rear to partially accommodate the hind legs. The tarsi are five-limbed on all three pairs of legs, all tarsi-limbs except for the claw-like limb are lobed (lobed) for better adhesion to the ground. The claws are imperforate.

On the underside of the body, the first two segments of the abdomen ( sternites ) are fused together. The three Central European species of the genus, which are very similar, can best be distinguished on the edge of the last sternite (anal sternite). This is clearly outlined in both sexes in the great elm jewel beetle. The edge is limited on both sides by a tooth, which is clearer and more pointed in the great elm beetle than in the great linden beetle, but not as cone-shaped extended into a long thorn as in the great willow beetle (Figure 6, Figure 7).

biology

The species probably develops exclusively in elms ( monophag ), preferably in field elm . Usually damaged and dying trees are attacked.

The beetles appear in late spring. In bad weather and at night they sit motionless in crevices of bark, preferably in the lower part of the trunk. When it is warm, the animals are very lively and eagerly walk around on sunny trunk sections or leaves. They gnaw on the leaves, copulate and fly to neighboring trees, even if these are not elms. The beetles disappear again after about three weeks.

The larvae develop in and under the bark of the trunk and thicker branches, preferably in the area of ​​the treetop. If the bark is thick enough, the larvae create a shallow passage in the bark. It runs lengthways and is tightly stuffed with dark drill dust. The end of the corridor is in a section with a thick bark. It is expanded into a doll's cradle. The tree is undetectably damaged, and healthy trees can also be attacked in this way. In trees with thinner bark, the larvae feed closer to the bast layer, damaging it. This was only observed in plants or parts of plants that were already damaged. If the infestation is sufficiently dense, the tree can die in one to two years.

In Central Europe overwintering usually takes place as a larva. Pupation takes place in spring. The pupal rest lasted about two weeks under breeding conditions. The overall development takes a year or two.

Occurrence and distribution

The species is found around the Mediterranean (Holomediterranean), as well as in Central and Eastern Europe (Holomediterranean-Pontic fauna element). It is seldom to very rare in Central Europe. In Germany it is known from Baden-Württemberg, Hesse, Bavaria and Brandenburg, but the finds are individual finds and some date from the 1970s. A find from Rhineland-Palatinate is questionable. Several sites are known from Switzerland.

swell

literature

• Fritz Brechtel, Hans Kostenbader (ed.): The splendor and stag beetles of Baden-Württemberg . Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 2002, ISBN 3-8001-3526-4 .
• 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

1. ^ "Pocket Atlas of the Beetles" Verlag Dausien Hanau / M
2. ↑ Red List of Endangered Animals in Germany (Binot et alt. 1998) ( Memento of the original from March 1, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 458 kB)  
3. ↑ Red lists at BioNetworkX
4. ↑ ^{a b c d} Fritz Brechtel, Hans Kostenbader (ed.): The splendor and stag beetles of Baden-Württemberg , Eugen Ulmer Verlag Stuttgart 2002, ISBN 3-8001-3526-4
5. ↑ ^{a b c d} Fauna Europaea, synonyms for Ovalisia (Scintillatrix) rutilans
6. ↑ Subgenera and species of the genus Lamprodila at BioLib
7. ^ Ovalisia at Fauna Europaea. Retrieved March 26, 2013 . Palmar (subgenus) in Fauna Europaea. Retrieved March 26, 2013 . Scintillatrix (subgenus) in Fauna Europaea. Retrieved March 25, 2013
8. ^ Adolf Horion: Käferkunde for nature lovers . Vittorio Klostermann, Frankfurt am Main 1949
9. ^ Heinz Joy, Karl Wilhelm Harde, Gustav Adolf Lohse: Die Käfer Mitteleuropas . tape 6 : Diversicornia . Spectrum, Heidelberg 1979, ISBN 3-87263-027-X .

Web links

Commons : Loricera pilicornis  - album with pictures, videos and audio files