Snail beetle
| Snail beetle | ||||||||||||
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Snapback beetle ( Agriotes lineatus ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Agriotes lineatus | ||||||||||||
| ( Linnaeus , 1767) |
| Longitudinal section through the 1st breast section (prothorax) (according to Reitter ) |
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| Image 1: Agriotes lineatus | Image 2: Dalopius marginatus |
| yellow: pronotum; red: front chest green: side edge of the pronotum A: front edge of the front chest (prosternal lobe) B: spinous process at the rear end of the front chest C: posterior angle of the pronotum D: front edge of the pronotum |
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| Images of Agriotes lineatus | |||||||||||||
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The snatch beetle ( Agriotes lineatus ) is a beetle from the family of the click beetles and the subfamily of the Agriotinae. The yellowish to brown beetle shows alternating light and dark brown longitudinal stripes on the wing covers . It becomes 7.5 to 10.5 millimeters long. The larva is a widespread pest on cultivated soils.
The species is only listed in the Red Lists of Rhineland-Palatinate , where it is classified as not endangered .
Notes on the name
The first description is the description by Linnaeus in 1767 under the name Elater lineatus . However, Linnaeus himself points out that he described the beetle as early as 1761 in his Fauna Svecica under the number 723. Both descriptions agree in the formulation elytris testaceis linearibus ( Latin wing covers brick- colored with lines). This property also explains the species name lineātus (Latin lined).
The generic name Agriōtes ( old Greek αγριώτης agriōtes, farmer) says that the species can be found in fields, which also applies to Agriotes lineatus . This also explains the German name "Saatschnellkäfer".
The genus Agriotes is represented in Europe with 35 species and around 45 species worldwide.
Description of the beetle
The neck plate sides of the beetle as in all species of the genus pulled laterally Agriotes down. The fine edge of the pronotum sides can disappear in the middle; it is easily recognizable near the head and at the rear corners of the pronotum. In contrast to other genera of the subfamily, it is slightly curved towards the front and down (picture 1 and picture 2) and is no longer visible from above near the head. On the underside of the body, the pronotum is fused with the front breast, the fused seam (Prosternal seam, Fig. 6) is only slightly deepened in order to be able to accommodate the antennae. The front chest is slightly rounded and slightly curved downwards (Fig. 1). At the back it is pulled out in a narrow extension (Fig. 4, Fig. 6), which can snap into a corresponding pit in the center chest. This quick release mechanism enables the beetle to jump into the air from its supine position. The legs are weak, the hind hips narrow. The tarsi are all five-limbed, their length gradually decreases towards the outside. The claws are not sawn.
The rear hip, which connects to the rear of the rear chest, is hollowed out to partially accommodate the rear thighs. The part that is on the same level as the rear chest is called the thigh ceiling . The shape of the thigh covers is an important determinant. In the snapback beetle, they do not narrow continuously from the inside out, but are almost parallel in width in the inner third and form a rounded obtuse angle at the beginning of the narrowing. On the inner edge they have a blunt tooth pointing backwards (Fig. 7). The front strip rises above the deflection of the feelers in front of the eyes . This rim-shaped protrusion runs in a slight curve towards the front in the snapback beetle (Fig. 5). The head falls down in a rounded manner, the mouthparts point slightly back in the rest position.
The pronotum is widest over the rear corners and there wider than long. The posterior angles are arched and keeled, the keel is clearly visible from above next to the side edge of the pronotum. The dense and short pronotum hairs on the disc backwards, near the base increasingly obliquely inwards. The eleven-link antennae are almost thread-shaped. From the second to the last antenna segment, none is significantly longer or shorter than the rest. The elytra are divided by rows of dots into alternately narrower and wider strips. The odd spaces are wider, more arched and more densely hairy than the rest. This hair is yellowish-gray, short and directed backwards. As a result, the wing covers appear alternately striped lighter and darker (Fig. 3).
larva
The larva (Fig. 8) is round, has three pairs of legs and a well-chitinized exoskeleton . It is yellow-orange and the last segment is conically pointed ( wireworm ).
distribution
The beetle is distributed from Central Asia to North Africa all over Europe except the far north and is also transported overseas.
biology
The species occurs in open areas. It can be found on meadows, fields, heather, in floodplains and on the edges of forests. The beetles can be found there on blooming herbs and bushes, in dead tufts of grass, under stones and in vegetable detritus.
The females lay their eggs individually, but also in small groups. The larvae live in the ground and take four to five years to pupate. The larvae eat roots , the beetles grasses or leaves of the pea family . The snapback beetle is one of the most dangerous plant pests that particularly attacks cereal crops , maize , tobacco and sugar beet .
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 .
- Carl Gustav Calwer , Gustav Jäger (Ed.): CG Calwer's Käferbuch. K. Thienemanns, Stuttgart 1876, 3rd edition.
- Klaus Koch : The Beetles of Central Europe Ecology . 1st edition. tape 2 . Goecke & Evers, Krefeld 1989, ISBN 3-87263-040-7 , pp. 67 .
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Agriotes (Agriotes) lineatus at Fauna Europaea
- ↑ Red lists at BioNetworkX
- ↑ a b C. Linnaeus 1767: Systema naturæ, Tom. I. Pars II. Editio duodecima reformata Description as 15th species of the 209th genus, p. 653
- ↑ C.Linnaeus: Fauna Svecica ... Stockholm 1761 Description on page 205, no. 723
- ↑ Sigmund Schenkling: Explanation of the scientific beetle names (species)
- ↑ Sigmund Schenkling: Explanation of the scientific beetle names (genus)
- ↑ Agriotes (subgenus) in Fauna Europaea. Retrieved March 20, 2013
- ↑ Subgenera and species of the genus Agriotes at BioLib
