Saperda (Lopezcolonia) punctata (Linnaeus, 1767)

Subfamilia: LAMIINAE  /  Tribus: SAPERDINI
Saperda punctata
Saperda punctata[Photo © Nikola Rahmé]

Saperda punctata, a widely distributed but endangered European species, has been described from Portugal as Cerambyx punctatus by Carl Linné in 1767 [✩].

S. punctata is a vulnerable species in Central Europe. The main reason for its decreasing abundance must be seen in dying out of its hosts, old elm (Ulmus) trees, suffering from the Dutch elm disease (tracheomycosis). However, as we could observe this species can also develop in other tree species. We have recorded it from Quercus and Salix. In our opinion the ability of the beetle to develop in alternative hosts will ensure the population continuity even in areas where old elm trees die out totally. In SE Europe the species is more abundant. Larvae of this species feed subcortically in dead trunks of the hosts. Later they enter the sapwood creating a short pupal cell. The larvae secure themselves there by a wad of fibrous frass, a very typical phenomenon in all European Saperda species (Saperda perforata, Saperda scalaris, and Saperda octopunctata.

Body length:11 - 18 mm
Life cycle:1 - 2 years
Adults in:May - July
Host plant:polyphagous in deciduous trees, but strongly prefers elm (Ulm)
Distribution: Azerbaijan, Albania, Armenia, Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Belarus, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Malta, Moldavia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, Serbia and Montenegro, Algeria


The depicted living beetles (DR) were reared from larvae foud in dead fallen elm (Ulmus) in Niva Dyje Natural Park (Břeclav district, South Moravia, Czechia) in spring 2019.

Collected by Nikola Rahmé and Daniel Rydzi


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

[▽]
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 310-311], 1998 [ISBN: 80-238-2627-1]. [download pdf icon]


Saperda punctata
Saperda punctata[Photo © Nikola Rahmé]
Saperda punctata
Saperda punctata
Saperda punctata
Saperda punctata[Photo © Daniel Rydzi]
Saperda punctata
Saperda punctata
Saperda punctata
Saperda punctata
Saperda punctata
Saperda punctata[Photo © Daniel Rydzi]


 
SubfamiliaLamiinae Latreille, 1825
TribusSaperdini Mulsant, 1839
GenusSaperda Fabricius, 1775
SubgenusLopezcolonia Alonso-Zarazaga, 1998
SpeciesSaperda (Lopezcolonia) punctata (Linnaeus, 1767)