Gray-green thigh beetle
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Gray-green thigh beetle ( Oedemera virescens ) |
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| Oedemera virescens | ||||||||||||
| ( Linnaeus , 1767) |
The gray-green thigh beetle ( Oedemera virescens ) is a beetle from the longhorn beetle family (Oedemeridae).
features
The beetles are 8 to 11 millimeters long. Her body is gray-green with a metallic sheen, the antennae and legs are brown-green in color. The end of the antennae is not cut out. In the males, the thighs (femora) of the hind legs are usually thickened, only not in the very similar greenish longhorn beetle ( Oedemera lurida ). The last abdomen segment of the females is cut out at the back, this also distinguishes them from the similar species. The upper side of the body is finely and densely haired with gray. The pronotum is almost square and wrinkled. The densely dotted upper wings are tapered towards the rear and gape slightly apart. They each have three raised longitudinal lines, the outer one lies directly on the outer edge of the cover wing, the innermost one is only short and extends to the taper of the cover wing.
Similar species
There is a possibility of confusion with the greenish longhorn beetle ( Oedemera lurida ) and with Oedemera monticola , which can only be found in the mountains above 600 m .
Occurrence
Gray-green thigh beetles are widespread and common in Europe , east to Siberia , and also in the far north. They can be found in meadows and on the edges of forests, from lowlands to high altitudes.
Way of life
The adults often sit on flowers and feed on pollen . The larvae develop in dry stems of herbaceous plants, such as monkshood , sunflower, and Jacob's ragwort , whose tissues they eat.
literature
- Jiři Zahradnik, Irmgard Jung, Dieter Jung et al .: Beetles of Central and Northwestern Europe. Parey, Berlin 1985, ISBN 3-490-27118-1 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Thomas Frank, Simone Aeschbacher, Johann G. Zaller: Habitat age affects beetle diversity in wildflower areas. In: Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment , 152, 2012, pp. 21–26, doi : 10.1016 / j.agee.2012.01.027 .
Web links
- Oedemera (Oedemera) virescens at Fauna Europaea