Shore gravedigger
| Shore gravedigger | ||||||||||||
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Shore gravedigger ( Necrodes littoralis ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Necrodes littoralis | ||||||||||||
| ( Linnaeus , 1758) |
The bank gravedigger or bank carrion beetle ( Necrodes littoralis ) is a beetle from the family of carrion beetles (Silphidae). The species is the only representative of its genus in Europe.
features
The beetles reach a body length of 15 to 25 millimeters and have a flattened physique. They are almost completely black, only the last three links of the antennae are orange-brown. The pronotum is disc-shaped and finely structured in the middle, with more dots on the edge. The abdomen is not completely covered at the end by the truncated elytra , each of which has three longitudinal ribs. The scutellum is relatively large and reaches about 20 percent of the length of the wing. In the males, the thighs ( femora ) of the hind legs are very clearly thickened, the rails of all pairs of legs are also curved and the tarsi of the front and middle pairs of legs are widened. The compound eyes are very large.
Distribution and way of life
The animals are widespread in Europe , east to the Caucasus . They occur only sporadically in the British Isles and are absent in the far north of Europe. They are found on the carcasses of larger animals. They used to be common, but are now rare.
literature
- Karl Wilhelm Harde, Frantisek Severa and Edwin Möhn: The Kosmos Käferführer: The Central European Beetles. Franckh-Kosmos Verlags-GmbH & Co KG, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-440-06959-1 .
- Edmund Reitter : Fauna Germanica - The beetles of the German Empire. Volume 2 p. 242, KG Lutz, Stuttgart 1912
- Edmund Reitter: Fauna Germanica - The beetles of the German Empire. 5 volumes, Stuttgart KG Lutz 1908–1916, digital library volume 134, Directmedia Publishing GmbH, Berlin 2006, ISBN 3-898-53534-7
- Jiři Zahradnik, Irmgard Jung, Dieter Jung et al .: Beetles of Central and Northwestern Europe. Parey, Berlin 1985, ISBN 3-490-27118-1 .
