Neck beetle
| Neck beetle | ||||||||||||
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Neck beetle ( Odacantha melanura ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Odacantha melanura | ||||||||||||
| ( Linnaeus , 1767) |
The neck beetle or swamp neck ruff ( Odacantha melanura ) is a beetle from the family of ground beetles (Carabidae). It is the only species of the genus Odacantha in Europe.
features
The beetles reach a body length of 6 to 8 millimeters and are unmistakable by their body shape. The head and roughly textured with dots pronotum are colored glossy black blue. The head is elongated and flat. At the level of the compound eyes , it is wider than the pronotum. This is very narrow and elongated, and the temples on the head are long drawn back, which is why the beetle bears its German name. The elytra are yellow to orange-red and have a dark spot at their end, around which a narrow, light edge usually remains. The first four segments of the antennae , like the legs, are yellow to orange-red, the remaining segments of the antennae , the palps , the ends of the legs ( femora ) and the tarsi are dark in color.
Occurrence
The animals come from Western Europe , east over the Caucasus and Siberia to East Asia , from the lowlands to middle altitudes. They can only be found sporadically in England and are absent in the far north and in places also in southern Europe. They live at the edge of water under stones and in moss and litter.
Way of life
Neck beetles feed predatory and mainly eat springtails . The adults overwinter in the stems of various aquatic plants. The larvae also live and develop in these stems. Mating takes place in spring.
literature
- Jiři Zahradnik, Irmgard Jung, Dieter Jung et al .: Käfer of Central and Northwestern Europe , Parey, Berlin 1985, ISBN 3-490-27118-1
- Ekkehard Wachmann , Ralph Platen, Dieter Barndt: Ground beetles - observation, way of life. Naturbuch-Verlag, Augsburg 1995, ISBN 3-894-40125-7
