Swiss jewel beetle
| Swiss jewel beetle | ||||||||||||
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Swiss jewel beetle |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Anthaxia helvetica | ||||||||||||
| ( Stierlin , 1868) |
The Swiss jewel beetle ( Anthaxia helvetica ) belongs to a group of very similar-looking small, dark jewel beetles that often stay on yellow flowers and are occasionally grouped together as "black species" of the genus Anthaxia .
Like most jewel beetles, the species is specially protected by law in accordance with the Federal Species Protection Ordinance.
Comments on the name and system
The species was first described by Stierlin in 1868 as a variation of the species Anthaxia sepulchralis with four dimples on the pronotum and a wider pronotum. The information about the localities ( Engadin , Simplon , St. Bernhard ) is probably the reason why Stierlin chose the species name helvētica ( Latin in Switzerland, Helvētia, occurring).
The genus name Anthaxia is from Altgr. άνθος ánthos, "blossom", and άξιος áxios, "worth" derived and indicates the most colorful species of this genus. The genus Anthaxia is represented in Europe in four subgenera with over a hundred species. There are over thirteen hundred species worldwide. The Swiss jewel beetle belongs to the subgenus Melanthaxia . The species occurs in the two subspecies Anthaxia helvetica helvetica and Anthaxia helvetica appenina .
Characteristics of the beetle
| Details of the Swiss jewel beetle | |
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| Fig. 1: Hair on the forehead | |
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Fig. 3: Structure of the pronotum |
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| Fig. 2: Shape of the pronotum | Fig. 4: Front width |
The body is flat and wide. Usually it is dark brown like the other "black species" of the genus, but there are also blue forms.
The head is hidden in the pronotum almost to the rear of the eye. The eyes are oval and large. The antennae are eleven, short and slightly serrated. They are pivoted apart next to the front edge of the eyes. The forehead is relatively short and haired in dark brown, the hair runs from the center to the sides (Fig. 1). The vertex is relatively wide between the eyes, almost half as wide as the pronotum in front (Fig. 4).
The pronotum is almost rectangular, in comparison with similar species rather wide, about twice as wide as long (Fig. 2). It is only slightly indented at the front edge and almost straight at the rear edge. Dimples can be indicated, but are not as distinctive as in the four-point pine jewel beetle ( Anthaxia quadripunctata ). On the disk of the pronotum there are a few elongated meshes laterally between the longitudinal ribs (Fig. 3). The posterior angles of the pronotum are cut off and clearly indented.
The elytra are uneven and densely dotted , clearly sculptured, but without stripes or rows of dots. They are about one and a half times as long as they are wide. Their sides are parallel at the front, they narrow towards the tip. The folded-down edges (epipleurs) widen from the center to the tip. The label is small, triangular and slightly wider than it is long (Fig. 2 :).
The front hip cavities are open at the back. The spherical front hips are separated by a rearward-facing extension of the front chest. The hind hips have thigh covers . The tarsi are all five-part. The claws are not split. On the abdomen one can distinguish six sections ( sternites ) from below, the first two are broadly fused together in the middle. In the male, the middle and rear rails are finely serrated, in the females these teeth are missing, their body is a bit squatter than that of the males.
Way of life
The yellowish larvae feed on different conifers. They make irregularly meandering corridors filled with excrement and drilling dust. The dolls' cradles are set at an angle to the drive axis, their lower half is filled with drilling dust. It will probably take two years to develop. The species is classified in the guild of fresh wood colonists.
Occurrence
The species inhabits coniferous forests up to the Krummholz level. The beetles can be found in forest meadows, on the edges of forests and on forest paths on yellow flowers or on dead branches of conifers. The species is not uncommon in the Alps and radiates from there into the neighboring low mountain ranges.
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Individual evidence
- ↑ Selection of “black” species of the genus Anthaxia
- ↑ Fritz Brechtel, Hans Kostenbader (ed.): The splendor and stag beetles of Baden-Württemberg , Eugen Ulmer Verlag Stuttgart 2002, ISBN 3-8001-3526-4
- ^ Gustav Stierlin: Coleoptera Helvetiae 2nd volume Schaffhausen 1886 Description p. 13
- ↑ Sigmund Schenkling: Nomenclator coleopterologus 2nd edition Jena 1922 Explanation of the scientific beetle names (species) in short form
- ↑ Sigmund Schenkling: Nomenclator coleopterologus 2nd edition Jena 1922 Explanation of the scientific beetle names (genus) in short form
- ↑ Anthaxia at Fauna Europaea. Retrieved March 23, 2013 Anthaxia Anthaxia (subgenus) from Fauna Europaea. Retrieved March 23, 2013 Anthaxia Cratomerus (subgenus) from Fauna Europaea. Retrieved March 23, 2013 Anthaxia Melanthaxia (subgenus) from Fauna Europaea. Retrieved March 23, 2013
- ↑ genus Anthaxia at BioLib
- ↑ a b Relationship, synonyms and occurrence according to "Fauna Europaea"
- ^ N Maisner: Studies on Phloeosinus thujae, Phymatodes glabratus and Anthaxia helvetica to Juniperus communis Journal of Pest Science, Vol 35, Number 4, April 1962 pp 55-58, doi: 10.1007 / BFO1882456 .
- ↑ Schmidl J & Bussler H 2004: Ecological guilds xylobionter beetles in Germany's nature conservation and landscape planning 36 (7); Stuttgart No. 486
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 .
- Fernando Murria Beltrán & Álvaro Murria Beltrán 2004: Anthaxia helvetica , nueva especie de bupréstido para España Boln. SEA, n ° 35 (2004): 287 as PDF
- Klaus Koch : The Beetles of Central Europe Ecology . 1st edition. tape 2 . Goecke & Evers, Krefeld 1989, ISBN 3-87263-040-7 . P. 98
