Subfamilia: LEPTURINAE / Tribus: LEPTURINI
[Photo © David Navrátil, click on the picture for 4K resolution]
Kirgizobia bohnei, an extremely rare endemic species of southern Kyrgyzstan, was described from the Oy-Tal (Ой-Тал) village environs (N40°24′41″ E74°07′27″; 2000 m a.s.l., Kara-Kulja district, Osh region, Kyrgyzstan) by Mikhail L. Danilevsky in 1992 [❖]. Only a few dozen specimens have been collected since the date of K. bohnei description, the species is known only from Southern Kyrgyzstan (Fergana Mountain Range and the Alai Mountain System). Known populations of this rarity occupy large areas of Tar River basin floodplain forests at altitudes of 1500-2300 m and all localities are associated with birch trees, but Betula spp. as a host was never confirmed [✮].
According to recent findings of our colleague and friend Petr Papoušek (personal info), development takes place in dead wood of poplars (Populus sp.) with biology similar to the genera Rhamnusium or Enoploderes. Adults, active in June and July, fly by day or dusk and do not visit flowers.
The monotypic genus Kirgizobia, which belongs to the Lepturiini tribe but is not closely related to any known tribe genera, was described at the same time as the species.
Body length: 17 - 20 mm Life cycle: unknown Adults in: June - July Host plant: dead wood of poplars (Populus sp.) Distribution: an endemic species to Kyrgyzstan
The depicted mounted female beetles were collected in Oy-Tal (Ой-Тал) village environs (Kara-Kulja district, Osh region, Kyrgyzstan) on June 27, 2024. The freshly emerged female was collected in NW of the Fergana Range (Osh region, Kyrgyzstan) on July 1, 2017.Collected by Petr Papoušek and Andrey Shapovalov
[❖]
Danilevsky M.L.:
New genus and species of the tribe Lepturini from Tian-Shan Mountains and a new Ostedes Pascoe 1859 from the Far East (Coleoptera Cerambycidae).
Lambillionea 92 (3): 203-206, 1992. [download]
[✮]
Danilevsky M.L.:
Longicorn beetles (Coleoptera, Cerambycoidea) of Russia and adjacent countries. Part 1.
[ Жуки-усачи (Coleoptera, Cerambycoidea) России и соседних стран. Часть 1. ]
Moscow: Higher School Consulting 1: 522pp [pages 229-230], 2014. [download
[Photo © Andrey Shapovalov]
Kirgizobia bohnei is one of the few species of longhorn beetles that have become the subject of a postage stamp.
A stamp dedicated to this species listed in the Kyrgyz Red Data Book
(Volume IV, Insects) was issued by the Ministry of Digital Development of the Kyrgyz Republic on April 30, 2024,
[Designer © Vladimir Melnic]
| Subfamilia | Lepturinae Latreille, 1802 |
| Tribus | Lepturini Latreille, 1804 |
| Genus | Kirgizobia Danilevsky, 1992 |
| Species | Kirgizobia bohnei Danilevsky, 1992 |