Clytus ambigenus, a species occuring in the Maghreb (Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia), has been described from Blida environs (Algeria) by Louis Alexandre Auguste Chevrolat in 1882 [▽].
The biology of this taxon is basically identical to the closest related species Clytus arietis (Linnaeus, 1758). Larvae have been found in oak
(Quercus sp.) and maple (Acer sp.), but it is probably a polyphagous species in broadleaf trees. Adults, active from late April to June, are diurnal and anthophilous, but may also
be found on branches or trunks of dead host trees.
Although C. ambigenus has long been considered a valid species, its taxonomy is not entirely clear and according to some entomologists
(e.g. Paul-Marie Peyerimhoff [✧], Sergi Trócoli, authors of this portal...) it is only a variety of Clytus arietis (Linnaeus, 1758).
The differences between these two species mentioned in the keys are very variable, in some populations not distinct and the biology/ecology/habitats of both species are identical.
In any case, it is a taxon that should be subjected to DNA analysis.
| Body length: | 10 - 14 mm |
| Life cycle: | 2 years |
| Adults in: | May - July |
| Host plant: | probably polyphagous in deciduous trees (reported from Quercus and Acer) |
| Distribution: | Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia |
The depicted beetle was collected close in Forêt de l'Akfadou Reserve (1400 m a.s.l., Kabylia, Algeria) on May 6, 1979.
Collected by R. Mourglia
[▽]
Chevrolat L.A.A.:
Espèces nouvelles de Longicornes européens et circa-méditerranéens et Remarques diverses.
Annales de la Société Entomologique de France (6) 2: 57-64, 1882.
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[✧]
Peyerimhoff de Fontenelle P.-M.:
Notes sur la biologie de quelques Coléoptères phytophages du Nord-africain (troisième série).
Annales de la Société Entomologique de France 88: 169-258, 1919
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Villiers A.:
Coléoptères Cérambycides de l'Afrique du Nord.
Faune de l'Empire Français, ORSC Paris, 5: 1-152, 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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