Malthodes minimus
| Malthodes minimus | ||||||||||||
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Malthodes minimus , male |
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| Malthodes minimus | ||||||||||||
| ( Linnaeus , 1758) |
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Fig. 1: Upper jaw (according to Reitter) |
Fig. 2: Male, end of abdomen laterally |
Malthodes minimus is a beetle from the family of the soft beetles (Cantharidae). The genus Malthodes isrepresentedby almost 120 species in Europe. About 40 species are found even in Central Europe. The conspicuously shortened wings with the yellow tips are not only found in the genus Malthodes , but also in the species-rich genus Malthinus . Identifying the females in particular is often not easy. This can also be seen from the fact that for Malthodes minimus ( Linnaeus , 1758) seven synonyms are listed ( cognatus ( Stephens 1830) fulvicollis (Stephans 1830), marinicollis (Schilsky, 1830), melanocephalus (Marsham, 1802), ruficollis ( Latreille , 1806), sanguinicollis (Fallen, 1807), sanguinolentus ( Gyllenhaal , 1808)) and that the name Malachius minimus was given differently (Malthodes minimus (Gyllenhal, 1808) and Malthodes minimus (Stephans, 1835) for Malthodes flavoguttatus (Kiesenwetter, 1852) ). An important determinant is the shape of the upper jaw and, in males, the structure of the rearmost body segments.
The genus name Malthodes from altgr. “Malthōdes” means “waxy soft”. It refers to the only slightly sclerotized exoskeleton of the beetle. The species name minimus ( Latin for smallest) is no longer entirely correct, as several even smaller species of the genus are known today.
Characteristics of the beetle
The elongated, soft beetle becomes 3.3 to four millimeters long. It is very finely hairy falling forward and is noticeable for its shortened elytra with yellow tips.
The rounded head points forward. The upper jaws are not kinked, the inner edge without a tooth, but finely indented (Fig. 1). The last jaw probe link is not incidental, but approximately egg-shaped and slightly pointed at the end. The eleven-jointed, very finely haired antennae are thread-like and lightened reddish at the base. The second antenna element is shorter than the third. The feelers are positioned on a base near the inner edge of the protruding eyes.
The surface of the pronotum , like that of the head, is smooth and shiny everywhere. The pronotum is rust-orange with or without a not sharply demarcated dark spot in the middle. The front and rear margins are clearly bordered, the sides at most in the front area.
The corrugated elytra are without rows of dots. They cover the abdomen only incompletely and also leave part of the hind wings uncovered. The shoulders are well developed, the sides are parallel, and the yellow tips are individually rounded.
The legs are long and narrow, the tarsi five-limbed. The last tergite is about as long as it is wide, the last sternite of the male is split to the base and looks from the side like the boat of the flower of a gorse (Fig. 2). The claws are weakly serrated near the base.
biology
The eurytopic kind is moisture-loving. The adults are mainly found in alluvial forests, and on the banks of water on the leaves of trees. They occur in Central Europe from the plain to montane locations. In Poland the animals appear between April and July, in Great Britain from May to August with a maximum in June and July.
Larvae and adults are predatory. The species is counted among the old wood colonists.
distribution
The species is distributed in Europe from Ireland to the eastern border of Europe, but is absent in the north in Norway , Denmark and Finland , the Baltic States and Belarus , in the south in Portugal , Spain , Slovenia and Croatia , Albania , Macedonia , Greece and Turkey . In addition, there are no reports from Moldova . The distribution area continues to Asia.
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 .
- Edmund Reitter : Fauna Germanica, the beetles of the German Empire III. Volume, KGLutz 'publishing house, Stuttgart 1911
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Edmund Reitter : Fauna Germanica, the beetles of the German Empire III. Volume, KGLutz 'publishing house, Stuttgart 1911
- ↑ a b c Malthodes minimus in Fauna Europaea. Retrieved September 5, 2012
- ↑ Malthodes (subgenus) in Fauna Europaea. Retrieved September 5, 2012
- ↑ Malthodes flavoguttatus in Fauna Europaea. Retrieved September 5, 2012
- ↑ Sigmund Schenkling: Explanation of the scientific beetle names (genera)
- ↑ Sigmund Schenkling: Explanation of the scientific beetle names (species)
- ↑ Klaus Koch : Die Käfer Mitteleuropas Ökologie . 1st edition. tape 2 . Goecke & Evers, Krefeld 1989, ISBN 3-87263-040-7 .
- ↑ coleopterological Polish page on Art
- ↑ Brief information, English
- ↑ J. Schmidl, H.Bussler Ecological Gilden xylobionter beetle Germany nature and landscape design 36 (7); 2004
