Wooden beetle
| Wooden beetle | ||||||||||||
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Wood beetle, female |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Tillus elongatus | ||||||||||||
| ( Linnaeus , 1758) |
The wooden checkered beetles (also beech Thanasimus , Hardwood Thanasimus ) ( Tillus elongatus ) is a beetle from the family of Thanasimus . Although the animal can grow to a length of one centimeter, it is seldom seen because it usually lives hidden in the wood. The males are colored differently than the females.
The species is under nature protection in various countries, in Germany it is listed under Category 3 (endangered).
Comments on the name and the system
The species was first listed in 1758 in the famous 10th edition of Linnes Systema naturae in the genus Chrysomela under the number 78 as Chrysomela elongata and described as Chrysomela elongata atra, thorace rubro subvilloso (Latin elongated black Chrysomela, red breast moderately hairy ). This explains the species name elongata . After the species was placed in the genus Lagria by Fabricius , Olivier placed it in the genus Tillus in 1790 . This is represented in Europe with five types. Olivier notes: Nous avons donné à ce genre le nom de Tillus, du nom de grec τιλλω, qui signifie épiler, pincer, mordre. Notre principal but, en nommant ainsi ce nouveau genre, est moins de caractériser les habitudes des insectes qui le composent, que de les désigner sous un nom étranger et qui leur soit propre ( fr. We have the genus the name Tillus after the Greek tillo given, which means to gnaw, pinch, bite. Our main aim in naming the new genus was less to characterize the properties of the species that belong to it, but to give them a new and unique name). Olivier then uses anatomical features to explain that the wood beetle can neither belong to the leaf beetles (Chrysomelidae) nor to the wool beetles (Lagriinae).
Physique of the beetle
The wooden beetle reaches a length of seven to ten millimeters. The body is long and cylindrical, especially in the male. In contrast to most colored beetles, the wooden beetle is simply colored. The male is uniformly black (picture under web links), the female, on the other hand, has a reddish brown pronotum and bluish black wing covers (taxo picture ). In exceptional cases, the base of the pronotum in the male can be completely or partially red. The elytra are less parallel in the females than in the males. The upper side is hairy long and sloping in both sexes, the hair is rough and black. The pronotum and elytra can have white transverse spots.
The head is slightly wider than the pronotum. The mouthparts point downwards. The upper jaw (Fig. 5, right red) is bidentate at the tip. The tripartite lip buttons (Fig. 5, blue on the right) are more powerful than the jaw buttons (Fig. 5, ocher on the right). The end link of the latter is widened like a shovel, the end link of the lip button is elongated and gradually pointed. The round eyes are closer to the pronotum. The strong antennae are sawn inwards from the third link, the second antenna link is small and rounded.
The pronotum is significantly narrower than the elytra. It is rounded in the shape of a cylinder and not bordered on the side.
The wing covers can leave the last abdominal segments uncovered. They are covered with simple rows of dots that reach almost to the tip .
The front hips are brought closer together and protruding in the shape of a cone (Fig. 3). The front hip cavities are open at the back but closed on the inside. The rear hips are not bulged to partially accommodate the thighs. They are on par with the first abdominal star. The abdomen has 6 visible abdominal plates. The tarsi are all clearly five-parted (Fig. 4). The first tarsal segment is elongated at the bottom like a sole, all tarsal segments except the fifth are cut out more or less like a bag and partially enclose the base of the following tarsal segment. The claws have large teeth so that they look split (Fig. 4, left).
Way of life
The warmth-loving species occurs in old deciduous and mixed forests, as well as in parks. They are mostly found at the edges of the forest or on clear-cuts on logs of hardwood exposed to the sun and infested with insects. They can also be found on flowering bushes and on flowering linden trees .
The females have a well-developed laying apparatus. They use it to lay the eggs in cracks in the wood or in the hideout holes of other insects living in the wood. The elongated larvae hunt living insect larvae in the wood, especially the larvae of the rodent beetle . With the claws and two chitin hooks at the end of the body, the larva can also work its way into larval passages clogged with drill dust. Often drilling dust is thrown out of the passages. The larva can also bite its way into neighboring tunnels with its mouthparts if the walls between them are thin. At night, the larvae can leave the tunnel system and crawl on the wooden surface to a distant hideout. In this way they develop new gait systems. Before pupation, blind-ended holes are widened and used as a pupa cradle. The adults are found in May and June, preferably females and most likely at night on old deciduous trees.
distribution
The species is widespread in Europe, even if no data is available from some countries. Their occurrence in Eastern Europe is uncertain.
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 .
- Gustav Jäger (editor): CG Calwer 's Käferbuch . K. Thienemanns, Stuttgart 1876, 3rd edition
- Lyngnes, R. 1959: Iakttakelser over "Tillus elongatus'" in Norsk Entomologisk Tidsskrift 1959 Vol. 11: 1-6, Oslo
- Klaus Koch : The Beetles of Central Europe Ecology . 1st edition. tape 2 . Goecke & Evers, Krefeld 1989, ISBN 3-87263-040-7 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Tillus elongatus at Fauna Europaea. Retrieved February 16, 2013
- ↑ Red lists at Science4you
- ↑ Caroli Linnei, ... systema naturae ... 1758 first description, page 377
- ^ Tillus at Fauna Europaea. Retrieved February 16, 2013
- ↑ Tillus at BioLib
- ↑ GA Olivier: Entomologie, ou histoire naturelle des insectes, avec leurs caractères génériques et specifiques, leur description, leur synonymie et leur figure enluminée Coléoptères. Tome second Paris 1790 First description of the genus Tillus
