Subfamilia: LAMIINAE / Tribus: SAPERDINI
[Photo © Lech Kruszelnicki]
Pilemia (Pseudopilemia) kruszelnickii, recently described by Wojciech Szczepański and Lech Karpiński [❖], is and endemic Greek Pilemia closely related to Pilemia (Pseudopilemia) hirsutula (Frölich, 1793) and Pilemia (Pseudopilemia) moreana (Breuning, 1943). This interesting species is distributed exclusively within the continental part of Greece (Thessaly region).
P. kruszelnickii differs from two related and the most similar species (P. hirsutula and P. moreana) by a considerably larger body size (ca. 1.5× longer). The body length of the examined species of P. moreana and P. hirsutula did not exceed 9 mm while the length of P. kruszelnickii ranged from 10 to 14 mm. Furthermore, P. kruszelnickii has a brighter pubescence compared to the other species. There is also a difference in the length of the antennae of P. moreana, which are noticeably longer in both sexes. The antennae of the males of P. hirsutula and P. kruszelnickii do not reach the end of the elytra, whereas in the males of P. moreana, the antennae usually reach its ends. Moreover, there are clear differences in the morphology of the lateral lobes [❖].
Body length: 10 - 14 mm Life cycle: 1 year Adults in: May - June Host plant: Phlomis samia Distribution: endemic to continental part of Greece (Thessaly region)
The depicted mounted beetles were collected on the host plant (Phlomis samia) ca. 2 km SE of Vlachava (Thessaly, Greece) on June 6, 2016. The living specimens were captured on the host plant (Phlomis samia) in Meteora (Μετέωρα) environs (Thessaly, Greece) on May 24, 2022 and on May 18, 2023.Collected by our friends Lech Kruszelnicki and Daniel Rydzi
[❖]
Szczepański W.T., Karpiński L.:
A new species of the genus Phytoecia Dejean, 1835 (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) from Greece.
Zootaxa 17 4268 (1): 141–146, 2017. [download]
Pilemia (Pseudopilemia) kruszelnickii ♂ [Photo © Daniel Rydzi]
Pilemia (Pseudopilemia) kruszelnickii ♀ [Photo © Daniel Rydzi]
| Subfamilia | Lamiinae Latreille, 1825 |
| Tribus | Saperdini Mulsant, 1839 |
| Genus | Pilemia Fairmaire, 1863 |
| Subgenus | Pseudopilemia Kasatkin, 2018 |
| Species | Pilemia (Pseudopilemia) kruszelnickii Szczepański & Karpiński, 2017 |