[= Plagionotus (Echinocerus) floralis (Pallas, 1773)]
[= Paraplagionotus floralis (Pallas, 1773)]
[= Clytus annulus Fabricius, 1801][▽]
Subfamilia: CERAMBYCINAE / Tribus: CLYTINI
[Photo © Daniel Rydzi]
Echinocerus floralis, a widely distributed Eurasian xerophilic species, has been described from Western Kazakhstan as Cerambyx floralis by Peter Simon Pallas in 1773 [✱]. In Central and Western Europe, E. floralis is a species of open xerothermic localities with rich herbal vegatation (e.g. steppes and forest-steppes, pastures, forest edges, abandoned gardens and naturally overgrown ruderal areas). E. floralis females lay eggs to soil at the base of herbaceous plants, youg larvae find suitable roots, bore into them and feed on their internal structures. Initially larvae feed subcortically creating longitudinal galleries filled with fine frass. Later penetrate pith and continues with feeding along root. Larvae of later instars destroy almost all the root tissues. Pupation takes place in the pupal cells in the roots during May and June. Life-cycle 1 or 2 years, depends on climatic zone. Adults, active from late May to early August, are diurnal and anthophilous [✮][✧].
Neoplagionotus anatolicus Vartanis, 2019, described from Alanya environs (Turkey) by Janis Vartanis [❖], has been downgraded to subspecific level (Echinocerus floralis anatolicus) by Mikhail L. Danilevsky in 2020 [✩].
In 2022, Maxim Lazarev published a work where he divided the Echinocerus floralis into several subspecies based primarily on elytral design (and partly on marginal differences in genitalia) [✳]. However, according to the opinions of the authors of the web pages, this study in the presented state without DNA analysis is insufficient for the general acceptance of the described subspecies. Therefore, for the time being, we list the taxon E. speciosus only as a species in our project. Moreover, we have many variable specimens of this species from many localities in our collections and their appearance does not match the published distribution of the newly described subspecies.
Body length: 8 - 20 mm Life cycle: 1 - 2 years Adults in: May - August Host plant: polyphagous in roots of herbs (e.g. Medicago, Euphorbia, Achillea) Distribution: Azerbaijan, Albania, Armenia, Austria, Bosnia Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, France, Germany, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldavia, Poland, Romania, Russia (Europaean part and Siberia), Serbia, Montenegro, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, Iran, Israel, Jordania, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tadjikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, China (Xinjiang)
The depicted beetles were collected on flowers in: (DR) - Valtice environs (Břeclav district, South Moravia, Czechia) on Jube 15, 2020; (MH) - Vayk (Վայք) environs (Vayots Dzor province, Southern Armenia) on June 7, 2012.Collected by Daniel Rydzi and Michal Hoskovec
[✱]
Pallas, P.S.:
Reise durch verschiedene Provinzen des Russischen Reichs. Zweyter Theil.
St. Petersburg, Kayserliche Akademie der Wissenschaften 2: 371-744, 1773. [download]
[✮]
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 158-159], 1998 [ISBN: 80-238-2627-1]. [download[✧]
Cherepanov A.I.:
Cerambycidae of Northern Asia, Volume 2 - Cerambycinae Part II.
Amerind Publishing, New Delhi: 354pp [pages 192-197], 1988. [download[❖]
Vartanis J.:
Neoplagionotus anatolicus sp. nov. - Description of a new species from Turkey (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae).
Munis Entomology & Zoology 14 (2): 344-349, 2019. [download[✩]
Danilevsky M.L.:
Chrysomeloidea I (Vesperidae, Disteniidae, Cerambycidae), Updated and Revised 2nd Edition
Catalogue of Palaearctic Coleoptera Vol. 6/1, Brill, Leiden-Boston, 712pp, 2021.[▽]
Kasatkin D.G.:
A new synonym of Echinocerus floralis (Pallas, 1773) (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Clytini).
Russian Entomological Journal 29 (4): 400-401, 2020. [download[✳]
Lazarev M.A.:
Taxonomy notes on Echinocerus floralis (Pallas, 1773) with a description of a new subspecies from Greece (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae).
Humanity space International almanac 11 (2): 195-222, 2022. [download
[Photo © Michal Hoskovec]
[Photo © Daniel Rydzi]
| Subfamilia | Cerambycinae Latreille, 1802 |
| Tribus | Clytini Mulsant, 1839 |
| Genus | Echinocerus Mulsant, 1863 |
| Species | Echinocerus floralis (Pallas, 1773) |