Small cross showcase

Small cross showcase
	Small cross showcase on finger
Systematics
Class :	Insects (Insecta)
Order :	Beetle (Coleoptera)
Family :	Ground beetle (Carabidae)
Subfamily :	Lebiinae
Genre :	Lebia
Type :	Small cross showcase
Scientific name
	Lebia cruxminor
	( Linnaeus , 1758)

Fig. 1: pronotum, on the right partially colored
blue: posterior angle, red: seta, green: enlargement

Fig. 2: Pair of claws on the hind leg

The small cross-pomp runners ( Lebia cruxminor ) is a beetle from the family of ground beetles and the subfamily of Lebiinae .

The generic name Lebia comes from old Gr. λεβίας lebías "liver fish" with an unclear reference. The species name cruxminor is derived from the Latin crux "cross" and minor "smaller", refers to the cross-shaped drawing of the wing coverts and has been transferred to the German name. The strikingly colored and rare animal is on several red lists.

Characteristics of the beetle

The beetle grows to 5.5 to 7 millimeters. It is very shiny, the head is black, the pronotum red, and the elytra are bright yellow-red with black markings.

The mouthparts point forward. The eyes are large and arched. The eleven-jointed antennae are thread-shaped and only have more hairs from the fourth joint.

The edged pronotum is bald and much wider than it is long. It's quite an unusual shape. At the base, the middle of the pronotum is extended in a trapezoidal shape to more than half its width (Fig. 1 right green). The rear angles (Fig. 1 right blue) end pointed and each have a bristle (Fig. 1 right red).

The sparsely hairy elytra are strikingly wide and flat. At the end they are trimmed perpendicular to the body axis, the end of the abdomen remains uncovered. The "cross" consists of a wide transverse band behind the middle, which widens at the wing cover seam and can encompass the red area at the end of the wing cover (apical blemish). Furthermore, a triangular area around the label is colored black. The seam can also be black.

The red legs are blackened at the joint between the thigh and splint and at the ends of the splint, the tarsi are also black. Occasionally the legs can also be completely black. The claws are serrated in a comb (Fig. 2).

biology

The biological cycle is annual, with the animals hibernating as adults . Reproduction takes place in spring.

The animals can be found in very different dry to moist locations, on the edges of mossy bodies of water, on moist meadows, on dry sand grass or in forests, on herbs, bushes or trees. The beetles are good fliers and are diurnal. They can be found in subalpine locations, but rarely to very rarely. They predatorily feed on various species of leaf beetles. The larvae also hunt phytophagous insect larvae (ectoparasitic on larvae of Galeruca tanaceti ). In winter you can find them under the bark at the foot of old trees.

distribution

The species is distributed in the Palearctic from North Africa to Siberia and Japan and is absent only in the northern areas.

literature

Heinz Joy, Karl Wilhelm Harde, Gustav Adolf Lohse: The beetles of Central Europe . tape 2 . Adephaga 1. Elsevier, Spektrum, Akad. Verl., Munich 1976, ISBN 3-87263-025-3 .
Ekkehard Wachmann , Ralph Platen, Dieter Barndt: Ground beetles - observation, way of life . 1st edition. Naturbuch-Verlag, Augsburg 1995, ISBN 3-89440-125-7 .