Chlorophorus varius damascenus, a subspecies distributed in the South-East Mediterranean and Near East, has been described from Syria as Chlorophorus damascenus by Louis Alexandre Auguste Chevrolat in 1854 [✧]. As a subspecies of Ch. varius is then presented in the work of Anastaes Alfieri from 1916 [❖]. According to some authors (Gianfanco Sama et al., 2010; ▽), however, C. varius damascenus should be instead recognized as a variety of Chlorophorus varius (Müller, 1766), dominant but not exclusive, in Asia Minor and the Near East.

Larval development in the wood of dead deciduous trees and shrubs of various diameters (from a few to tens of centimeters) Larvae of the first instars feed subcortically, then enter and feed in the sapwood where also pupate in hook-shaped pupal cells. Life cycle 2 - 3 years. Adults, active from May to September, are diurnal and anthophilous.

Body length:	8 - 15 mm
Life cycle:	2 - 3 years
Adults in:	May - August
Host plant:	polyphagous in deciduous trees (Quercus, Ficus, Prunus, Ceratonia, etc.)
Distribution:	Greece (Rhodes), Egypt, Cyprus, Israel, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey

The depicted mounted beetle was collected in Kiriş environs (Kemer, Antalya province, Turkey) on June 20-30, 2000. The living specimen was reared from larva collected in Lebanon in spring 2016.

Collected by David Navrátil and Tamás Németh

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[✧]
Chevrolat L.A.A.:
Coléoptères de Syrie (Suite).
Revue et Magasin de Zoologie, Paris 7-8: 479-486, 1854. [download ]

[❖]
Alfieri A.:
Séance du 3 Mai 1916. Catalogue des Cerambycides de l'Egypte.
Bulletin de la Société entomologique d'Egypte 9 (2): 63-76, 1916. [download ]

[▽]
Sama G., Rapuzzi P. & Kairouz A.:
Catalogue commenté des Cerambycidae du Liban. An annotated catalogue of the Cerambycidae of Lebanon (Insecta Coleoptera Cerambycidae).
Quaderni di Studi e Notizie di Storia Naturale della Romagna 30: 131-201, 2010. [download ]