Flat-legged rail beetle
| Flat-legged rail beetle | ||||||||||||
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two flat-legged rail beetles copulating on dead alder |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Melasis buprestoides | ||||||||||||
| ( Linnaeus , 1761) |
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| Fig. 1: Top view | Fig. 2: underside | |
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| Fig. 3: Head from the front | Fig. 4: side view | |
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| Fig. 6: Mouth parts, top left : lower jaw with button below: lower lip with button right: upper jaw A from above B from below C from outside D from inside |
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| Fig. 5: Right front corner of the pronotum ( top view) above in the female below in the male |
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| Fig. 7: Larva | ||
The flat-legged Schienenkäfer , also alder black beetle ( Melasis buprestoides ), is a beetle from the subfamily Melasinae of the Schienenkäfer family , which belongs to the further relatives of the click beetles . The genus Melasis is represented in Europe by a second species, Melasis fermini , whose occurrence is limited to Spain.
The species name buprestoides (after the beetle genus Buprestis , and ancient Greek ειδής eidēs, similar) alludes to the body shape; the original name of Linnaeus for the beetle was Elater buprestoides , meaning "jewel beetle-like click beetle". The generic name Melasis (from ancient Greek μέλας mélas black) refers to the black body. The German name refers to the flattened rails of the beetle's legs. The name alder black beetle is misleading, as the beetle is only found on alders among other things. The black beetle part of the name also suggests a closer relationship with the black beetles , which is not given.
The hidden beetle is listed in the Red List of Endangered Species of North Rhine-Westphalia under Category 2 (rare species, bound to certain biotopes , assumed to be endangered), in Berlin the species is classified in Category 3 (endangered).
Characteristics of the beetle
The cylindrical beetle is six to nine millimeters long. It reaches the greatest body width at the level of the front edge of the pronotum . It is reminiscent of a click beetle , not only due to the streamlined wing-coverts tapering towards the rear, but also due to other structural features , to which the beetle was also included in the beginning of the system. It is dull black or pitch brown, and densely dotted . The beetle is very finely haired on the top, the hair is longer and yellowish on the forehead and on the front edge of the pronotum (Fig. 3).
The head is small and slightly retracted into the pronotum. The upper lip is membranous, the upper jaw is short and single-toothed (Fig. 6 right). The four-part jaw palpation becomes thicker towards the end, the end part is elongated, egg-shaped and truncated at an angle (Fig. 6, top left). The end link of the three-part lip switch (Fig. 6, bottom left) is large and ax-shaped. The eyes are small and round and stand on the sides of the head. The eleven-segment antennae are sunk in front of the eyes in large pits with sharp edges towards the forehead, which are extended under the eyes for the insertion of the first antenna element. The basal segment of the antennae (Fig. 3) is large, black at the base and brown-black towards the end. The following antenna segments are brown-red, the second very small. The third antenna segment is not very strong, the following segments in the male are greatly expanded inward (heavily combed), in the female somewhat less pronounced (toothed to combed).
The coarse-grained pronotum is a little wider than it is long and narrows in a straight line towards the rear. The front edge is cut out across the entire width. The front corners protrude and are developed differently in males and females ( sexual dimorphism ). In the male they appear rounded when viewed from above (Fig. 5 below), when viewed from the side as a rimmed lobe (Fig. 4). In the female, they form an angular lamella that is bent up at the side as a tooth comb (Fig. 5 above). The back corners of the pronotum are drawn out to a tooth-like point. The pronotum has a narrow groove in the middle, which disappears towards the front.
The elytra are usually dark, like the pronotum, and occasionally brown. They have fine dotted stripes , which are inconspicuous because of the rasp-like dotted spaces near the base of the elytra. The rows of dots are increasingly deepened towards the rear. The large label is rounded and square.
As with the click beetles, the front chest has an appendage that runs between the front hips and between the middle hips and ends in a recess in the middle chest. The appendage is small and pointed and does not form a mechanism to jump up like the click beetles. The thighs and rails of the brownish-red legs are enlarged and severely flattened. The base of the hind legs is partially covered by clear thigh covers (Fig. 2). The slightly lighter tarsi are five-part. In contrast to the following ones, the first tarsal link is long and wide, the following ones are significantly shorter. The claws are imperforate.
larva
The larvae (Fig. 7) are strongly flattened dorsoventrally . They resemble the larvae of jewel beetles.
biology
The adults can be found all year round, mainly in May and June on the breeding trees. The beetles copulate on the breeding trees at the entrance of the boreholes, whereby according to Cuvier only one partner should ever be in the open (taxobild).
The larvae feed in dry and hard dead or dying trunks, stumps and branches of various deciduous trees, in Central Europe mainly in beech, hornbeam and elm , in France birch , oak , alder , chestnut and others are mentioned. Trees exposed to the sun in parks, gardens or at the edges of forests are preferably infested. The beetle avoids alpine areas.
The larvae in Central Europe need two to three years to develop. Their feeding ducts run straight across the grain of the wood with bulges on the sides through the wood. In these bulges, the larva lies curved in the shape of a horseshoe and compresses the drill dust behind it. Pupation takes place in late summer. The pupal stage lasts two to three weeks. The hatched imago hibernates in the doll's cradle.
The larvae are parasitized by the brackish wasp Diospilus melasidis .
distribution
The species is common in almost all of Europe. There are no reports from the Netherlands, Albania and European Turkey, Finland, some Russian provinces and Moldova. It is also known from Asia Minor, parts of Africa and Asia. For the Baltic States, the first find in Lithuania was reported in 2002.
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 .
- Klaus Koch : The Beetles of Central Europe Ecology . 1st edition. tape 2 . Goecke & Evers, Krefeld 1989, ISBN 3-87263-040-7 .
- Gustav Jäger (Ed.): CG Calwer’s Käferbuch . K. Thienemanns, Stuttgart 1876, 3rd edition
- Edmund Reitter : Fauna Germanica, the beetles of the German Empire III. Volume, KGLutz 'publishing house, Stuttgart 1911
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Edmund Reitter : Fauna Germanica, the beetles of the German Empire III. Volume, plate 117 KGLutz 'Verlag, Stuttgart 1911
- ↑ Jørgen Matthias Christian Schiodte: Danmarks Buprestes og Elateres Kjöbenhavn 1865 (Google e-book)
- ↑ a b Melasis buprestoides at fauna Europaea. Retrieved December 11, 2012
- ↑ Melasis in Fauna Europaea. Retrieved December 11, 2012
- ↑ Melasis fermini in Fauna Europaea. Retrieved December 11, 2012
- ↑ Sigmund Schenkling: Explanation of the scientific beetle names (species)
- ↑ Sigmund Schenkling: Explanation of the scientific beetle names (genus)
- ↑ Red lists at BioNetworX
- ↑ BÜCHE, B. & MÖLLER, G. 2005: Red list and total species list of wood-dwelling beetles (Coleoptera) from Berlin with information on other species. In: THE STATE REPRESENTATIVE FOR NATURE CONSERVATION AND LANDSCAPING / SENATE ADMINISTRATION FOR URBAN DEVELOPMENT (Ed.): Red lists of endangered plants and animals in Berlin
- ↑ G. Cuvier (baron), Ch. H. Smith, E. Pidgeon, JE Gray, PA Latreille, GR Gray The animal kingdom arranged in conformity with its organization Volume 14 Whittacker 1832 (Google e-Book)
- ^ A b Luc Auber: Coléoptères de France Fascicule II Edition N.Boubée & Cie, Paris 1953
- ↑ Polish koleopterologische page
- ↑ R. Ferenca, P. Ivinskis, V. Tamutis: New and rare for Lithuania beetles (Coleoptera) species Acta Biol. Univ. Daugavp., 7 (2): 181-190. 2007 ISSN 1407-8953
