Stenopterus ater (original) (raw)

Stenopterus ater (Linnaeus, 1767)
[= Necydalis praeusta Fabricius, 1793]
[= Stenopterus ustulatus Mulsant, 1839]
[= Stenopterus auriventris Küster, 1851]

Subfamilia: CERAMBYCINAE / Tribus: STENOPTERINI

[Photo © David Navrátil, click on the picture for 4K resolution]

Stenopterus ater, a widespread holomediterranean species extending into Central Europe and the Black Sea region, has been described as Necydalis atra from Southern Europe by Carl Linné in 1767 [✧]. S. ater is a species very variable in both size and colouration. Larvae of this broadly polyphagous beetle develop in dead branches and stems of plethora trees and bushes (Pistacia, Ceratonia, Ostrya, Carpinus, Ulmus, Prunus, Olea, Fraxinus, Argania etc.). Larval development in both freshly dead and also very old, already decaying wood. Larval feed partly subcortically, but mostly in the heartwood of branches and thin trunks 2-10 (20) cm in diameter. During heavier infestations the larvae almost destroy the wood. Development at least two years. Adults, active from May to August, are diurnal and anthophilous - often are collected en masse on flowering Apiaceae [✮][❖].

Body length:	6 - 14 mm
Life cycle:	2 - 3 years
Adults in:	May - August
Host plant:	polyphagous in deciduous trees (Pistacia, Ceratonia, Ostrya, Carpinus, Ulmus, Prunus, Olea, Fraxinus, Argania etc.)
Distribution:	Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Corsica, Croatia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Sardinia, Serbia, Sicily, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain

The depicted mounted beetles were collected on flowers in Oulmes (أولماس) evirons (926 m a.s.l., Middle Atlas Mts., Khémisset province, Rabat-Salé-Kénitra region, Morocco) on May 23, 2023. The living specimen was collected in Argelès-sur-Mer environs (Pyrénées-Orientales department, Languedoc-Roussillon-Midi-Pyrénées, France) on June 22, 2019.

Collected by David Navrátil and Daniel Rydzi

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[✧]
Linné C.:
Systema Naturæ.
Editio Duodecima Reformata. Laurent Salvius, Holmiæ 1 (2): 533-1327, 1767. [download ]

[✮]
Sláma M.E.F.:
Tesaříkovití – Cerambycidae České republiky a Slovenské republiky / Cerambycidae of the Czech Republic and Slovak Republic.
Milan Sláma private printing, Krhanice, 383pp [pages 115-116], 1998 [ISBN: 80-238-2627-1]. [download ]

[❖]
Trócoli S.:
Actualización del catálogo de Longicornios de Marruecos Actualisation du catalogue des Longicornes du Maroc (Parte III / Partie III : Cerambycidae, Cerambycinae).
Revue de l'Association Roussillonnaise d'Entomologie (R.A.R.E.) 28 (3): 143-185, 2019. [download ]

Villiers A.:
Coléoptères Cérambycides de l'Afrique du Nord.
Faune de l'Empire Français, ORSC Paris, 5: 1-152, 1946. [download ]

[Photo © Daniel Rydzi]