Purpuricenus kaehleri kaehleri, a nominotypic subspecies with a large area of occurrence from Iran to the Iberian Peninsula, belongs among the critically endangered Cerambycid species
in Central Europe. In the Mediterranean it is a common beetle, whose larvae develop in a wide range of deciduous trees. In Central Europe it prefers oaks (Quercus spp.) in well
preserved xerothermic oak stands [❖]. The bionomy of the species varies greatly from region to region, in Czechia (Křivoklátsko Protected Landscape Area,
Podyjí National Park) larval development takes place in thinner end branches of live standing oaks, in which the larvae interrupt the flow of nutrients during development and the branches
subsequently die. Life cycle 2 - 3 years, adults are active from May to August. The "Northern" populations (Central Europe, Southern Urals) also differs from the Mediterranean populations
in the behavior of adults which do not visit flowers and are very difficult to find because they live and fly in hot summer weather in oak crowns. Conversely, adults of the "Southern"
populations can often be found on blossoming shrubs and herbaceous plants.
| Body length: | 10 - 22 mm |
| Life cycle: | 2 - 3 years |
| Adults in: | May - August |
| Host plant: | polyphagous in deciduous trees (Quercus, Cydonia, Acer, Ulmus etc.) |
| Distribution: | Europe, Caucasus, Transcaucasia, Turkey, Near East, North Iran |
The depicted living beetles were reared from larva found in felled oak (Quercus sp.) branches in Křivoklátsko Protected Landscape Area (Rakovník district, Central Bohemia, Czechia)
during winter seasons 2020-2022. The mounted female (11 mm) was collected in Razdórskaya Stanitsa (Раздóрская станица) Cossack's village environs (Ust-Donetsky district,
Rostov Oblast, Southern Federal District, Russia).
Collected by Miroslav Polcar and Kirill V. Makarov
[❖]
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 98-100], 1998 [ISBN: 80-238-2627-1].
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