Phytoecia (Obereina) melanocephala (Fabricius, 1787)
[= Phytoecia (Blepisanis) melanocephala (Fabricius, 1787)]
[= Blepisanis melanocephala (Fabricius, 1787)]

Subfamilia: LAMIINAE  /  Tribus: SAPERDINI
Phytoecia melanocephala
[Photo © David Navrátil, click on the picture for 4K resolution]

Phytoecia melanocephala, a species occuring in Maghreb and Sicily, has been described from Africa as Saperda melanocephala by Johann Christian Fabricius in 1787 [▽]. Taxon was moved to the restituted subgenus Obereina Ganglbauer, 1886 by Mikhail Danilevsky in 2018 [✩].

Body length:11 – 12 mm
Life cycle:1 year
Adults in:May - June
Host plant:Lamiaceae (Marrubium vulgare, Lavandula multifida) [❖]
Distribution:Italy (Sicily), Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia


The depicted beetles were collected in Khenifra (خنيفرة) environs (N32°55′31″ W05°33′14″; 1200 m a.s.l., Middle Atlas Mts., Béni Mellal-Khenifra region, Morocco) on May 14, 2023.

Collected by David Navrátil


[▽]
Fabricius J.C.:
Mantissa insectorum sistens eorum species nuper detectas adiectis characteribus genericis, differentiis specificis, emendationibus, observationibus.
Proft, Hafniae, 1: 348pp [page 148], 1787. [download pdf icon]

[✩]
Danilevsky M.L.:
A new Palaearctic subgenus of genus Phytoecia Dejean, 1835 (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae).
Zootaxa 4521 (1): 129-132, 2018. [download pdf icon]

[❖]
Sama G., Ringenbach J.-C. and Rejzek M.:
A preliminary survey of the Cerambycidae of Lybia (Coleoptera).
Bulletin de la Société Entomologique de France, Paris 110 (4/5): 439-454, 2005. [download pdf icon]

Trócoli S.:
Actualización del catálogo de Longicornios de Marruecos / Actualisation du catalogue des Longicornes du Maroc (Parte IV / Partie IV : Cerambycidae : Lamiinae).
Revue de l'Association Roussillonnaise d'Entomologie (R.A.R.E.) 29 (1): 26-65, 2020. [download pdf icon]


Conizonia georgiana - genitalia

Male genitalia of Phytoecia (Obereina) melanocephala (Fabricius, 1787) in detail: A. aedeagus, B. lateral lobes, C. subgenital plate.
[Photo © David Navrátil]




 
SubfamiliaLamiinae Latreille, 1825
TribusSaperdini Mulsant, 1839
GenusPhytoecia Pic, 1892
SubgenusObereina Ganglbauer, 1886
SpeciesPhytoecia (Obereina) melanocephala (Fabricius, 1787)