Phymatodes (Poecilium) antonini, a rare species occuring in Syria and South Turkey, has been described as Poecilium antonini from Ṣlenfah environs (Syria) by Pierpaolo Rapuzzi, Gianfranco Sama and Tomáš Tichý in 2011 [❖]. P. antonini, a species closely related to P. (Poecilium) alni (Linnaeus, 1767), can be easily distinguished from it by the shining body, more sparsely punctate pronotum and elytra, shorter elytra, antennae end legs, and the reddish color of pronotum. Moreover P. antonini has shorter pronotum and denser black hairs on the post-scutellar tuft [❖]. All specimens of the P. antonini type series were reared from larvae feeding in dead oak branches (Quercus sp.).

Body length:	♂♂ 4 - 5 mm / ♂♂ 5 - 6 mm
Life cycle:	1 - 2 years
Adults in:	May - June
Host plant:	Quercus spp.
Distribution:	Syria, South Turkey [✳]

The mounted male beetle (paratype) was reared from larva found in dead Quercus branch in Ṣlenfah (صلنفة) environs (1300-1800 m a.s.l., Jibāl an Nuşayrīyah Mts., Al-Haffah district, Latakia governorate, Syria) on April 18, 2010.

Collected by Antonín Wrzecionko

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[❖]
Rapuzzi P., Sama G. & Tichý T.:
Description of a new species of Poecilium Fairmaire, 1864 from Syria (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae).
Munis Entomology & Zoology 6 (2): 673-675, 2011. [download ]

[✳]
Özdikmen H.:
Members of the genus Phymatodes Mulsant (Cerambycidae: Cerambycinae: Callidiini) in Turkey with three new records for Turkey.
Munis Entomology & Zoology 16 (2): 1103-1117, 2021. [download ]