Bolivarita oculata, an endemic species to Morocco, has ben described from As-Sawíra (Mogador) environs by Manuel Martínez de la Escalera in 1914 [✧].
Biology and larva of this very interesting and not so often collected nocturnal species were in detail described by Gianfarnco Sama in 1987 [✳].
Larvae of B. oculata develop in dying or dead thin branches (10-25 mm in diameter) of argan tree (Sideroxylon spinosum, syn. Argania spinosa). The larvae create a relatively long (30 - 40 cm) and excrement/sawdust free gallery
in the middle of the infested branches. Larval development lasts at least two years, the pupation takes place at the end of July at the end of the gallery blocked by a simple sawdust plug.
Hatching, which begins in mid-August, continues until the end of September. Adults are nocturnal and are often attracted to light. The adults, sitting motionless on the twigs of the host tree during the day, are
very active at night and fly away immediately when disturbed. [✳].
Body length: | 7 - 9 mm |
Life cycle: | at least 2 years |
Adults in: | August - September |
Host plant: | monophagous in Sideroxylon spinosum |
Distribution: | an endemic species to South-Western Morocco |
The depicted beetles were reared from larvae found in dying Sideroxylon spinosum twigs in Aourir ( ⴰⵡⵔⵉⵔ) environs
(Agadir-Ida Ou Tanane province, Souss-Massa region, Morocco) on May 28, 2022 and May 17, 2023, respectively.
Collected by Petr Jelínek and Tomáš Lengál
[✧]
Martínez de la Escalera y Pérez de Rozas M..:
Los Coleópteros de Marruecos.
Trabajos del Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, Serie Zoológica 11: 553pp [pages 498-500], 1914
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[✳]
Sama G.:
Note préliminaire pour une faune des longicornes de l'Afrique du Nord.
Biocosme Mésogéen, Nice 4 (1): 43-64, 1987.
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Villiers A.:
Coléoptères Cérambycides de l'Afrique du Nord.
Faune de l'Empire Français, ORSC Paris, 5: 1-152 [pages 70-71], 1946.
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Trócoli S.:
Actualización del catálogo de Longicornios de Marruecos Actualisation du catalogue des Longicornes du Maroc (Parte III / Partie III : Cerambycidae, Cerambycinae).
Revue de l'Association Roussillonnaise d'Entomologie (R.A.R.E.) 28 (3): 143-185, 2019.
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