ssp. desfontainii (Fabricius, 1793)
Subfamilia: CERAMBYCINAE / Tribus: TRACHYDERINI
Purpuricenus desfontainii desfontainii ♂ [Photo © Petr Jelínek]
Purpuricenus desfontainii, a Mediterranean species occuring in North Africa, Near East, Turkey and Greece, has been described from Algeria as Cerambyx Desfontainii by Johann Christian Fabricius in 1793 [❖]. The nominotypic subspecies, P. desfontainii desfontainii, occurs throughout the Maghreb from Morocco to Lybia and, as an isolated population, in the isle of Crete (Greece). By entomologists and nature lovers much more often collected, photographed and generally known subspecies Purpuricenus desfontainii inhumeralis is common in Greece, Turkey and the Middle East. Larvae of this remarkable beetle develop in living branches and twigs of broadlead trees and shrubs (e.g. Quercus, Ceratonia, Pistacia, Ziziphus). Adults, active from May to June, are diurnal and anthophilous [✳].
Body length: 12 - 23 mm Life cycle: 2 - 3 years Adults in: May - June Host plant: polyphagous in deciduous trees and shrubs (Quercus, Ceratonia, Pistacia, Ziziphus) Distribution: Crete (Greece), Algeria, Lybia, Morocco, Tunisia
The depicted beetles were collected on thistles in Tanafnit village (N33°4′50″ W5°29′36″; 1040 m a.s.l., Khénifra province, Béni Mellal-Khénifra region, Morocco) on May 16, 2022.Collected by Petr Jelínek
[❖]
Fabricius J.Ch.:
Entomologia systematica emendata et aucta. Secundum classes ordines, genera, species adjectis synonymis, locis, observationibus, descriptionibus.
Hafniae, C. G. Proft 1 (2): xx + 538pp, 1793. [download]
[✳]
Sama G., Ringenbach, J.-C. and Rejzek M.:
A preliminary survey of the Cerambycidae of Lybia (Coleoptera).
Bulletin de la Société Entomologique de France 110 (4/5): 439-454, 2005. [download
Purpuricenus desfontainii desfontainii ♂ [Photo © Petr Jelínek]
Purpuricenus desfontainii desfontainii ♀ [Photo © Petr Jelínek]
Purpuricenus desfontainii desfontainii ♂+♀ [Photo © Petr Jelínek]
| Subfamilia | Cerambycinae Latreille, 1802 |
| Tribus | Trachyderini Dupont, 1836 |
| Genus | Purpuricenus Dejean, 1821 |
| Species | Purpuricenus desfontainii (Fabricius, 1793) |
| Subspecies | Purpuricenus desfontainii desfontainii (Fabricius, 1793) |