Stictoleptura (Stictoleptura) cordigera (Füssli, 1775)
ssp. illyrica (Müller, 1948)
[= Leptura cordigera illyrica Müller, 1948]

Subfamilia: LEPTURINAE  /  Tribus: LEPTURINI
Stictoleptura cordigera illyrica
[Photo © Daniel Rydzi]

Stictoleptura (Stictoleptura) cordigera, a widely distributed species in Europe (West, South-West and Central), Middle East and Caucasus, has been described from Locarno environs (Switzerland) as Leptura cordigera by Johann Caspar Füssli in 1775 [✧]. Its Balcan subspecies S. cordigera illyrica, occuring in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Greece, NE Italy, Montenegro, and Serbia, has been described from Istria as Leptura cordigera var. illyrica by Giuseppe Müller in 1948 [❖].

The larval biology of this remarkable Lepturin (all subspecies) is not entirely clear. There are numerous indications of the larvae relationship with decaying wood of deciduous trees (Quercus, Fagus, Castanea, Pistacia, Eucalyptus, Prunus, etc.) which are not accompanied by specific observations. At the same time, there is ample evidence of larval development in Pinus in Israel. By analogy with closely related species, generation should last three years. Adults, active from June to August, are diurnal and anthophilous [✮][▽].

Body length:♂ ♂ 10 - 17 mm / ♀♀ 12 - 20 mm
Life cycle:2 - 3 years [?]
Adults in:June - August
Host plant:probably polyphagous in decaying wood of both deciduous and coniferous trees
Distribution:Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Greece, NE Italy, Montenegro, Serbia


The depicted living beetles were photographed in Panagitsa (Παναγίτσα) environs (Arcadia, Peloponnese, Greece) on May 26, 2021 and in Kelefa (Κελεφά) village environs (East Mani municipality, Laconia, Peloponnese, Greece) on May 30, 2021, respectively.

Collected by Daniel Rydzi


[✧]
Füessli J.C.:
Verzeichniss der ihm bekannten Schweizerischen Inseckten mit einer ausgemahlten Kupfertafel: nebst der Ankündigung eines neuen Insecten Werks.
Zürich: Füesslin, xii + 62pp, 1775. [download pdf icon]

[❖]
Müller G.:
Contributo alla conoscenza dei Coleotteri Fitofagi (Cerambycidae e Chrysomelidae).
Atti del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Trieste 17 (2) [1948]: 61-98, 1949.

[✮]
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 247-248], 1998 [ISBN: 80-238-2627-1]. [download pdf icon]

[▽]
Danilevsky M.L.:
Longicorn beetles (Coleoptera, Cerambycoidea) of Russia and adjacent countries. Part 1.
Higher School Consulting, Moscow, 550pp [pages 263-264], 2014. [download pdf icon]


Stictoleptura cordigera illyrica
[Photo © Daniel Rydzi]


 
SubfamiliaLepturinae Latreille, 1802
TribusLepturini Latreille, 1802
GenusStictoleptura Casey, 1924
SubgenusStictoleptura Casey, 1924
SpeciesStictoleptura (Stictoleptura) cordigera (Füssli, 1775)
SubspeciesStictoleptura (Stictoleptura) cordigera illyrica (Müller, 1948)