Rhagium inquisitor (Linnaeus, 1758)
ssp. cedri Reymond, 1953

Subfamilia: LEPTURINAE  /  Tribus: RHAGIINI
Phytoecia erythrocnema
[Photo © David Navrátil, click on the picture for 4K resolution]

Rhagium inquisitor cedri, a subspecies of R. inquisitor endemic to Maghreb, has been described from Middle Atlas Mts. by André Reymond in 1953 [▽]. R. inquisitor cedri differs from R. inquisitor inquisitor in the elytra more densely punctate and darker appearance due to the reduction/absence of the light pubescence and scales. Its larvae develop under the bark of Atlas cedar (Cedrus atlantica), the biology is similar to the nominotypical subspecies [✮].

Body length:10 – 20 mm
Life cycle:2 years
Adults in:April – June
Host plant:Cedrus atlantica
Distribution:a subspecies endemic to Maghreb (Algeria and Morocco)


The depicted mounted beetle emerging from dead Cedrus were collected in Ifrane (ⵉⴼⵔⴰⵏ / إيفران) environs (N33°28′52″ W05°01′12″; 1870 m a.s.l., Middle Atlas Mts., Ifrane province, Fès-Meknès region, Morocco) on April 19, 2024.

Collected by our friend Petr Papoušek


[▽]
Reymond A.:
Description de deux formes nouvelles de Cérambycides du Cèdre au Maroc, suivie d'observations sur la biocénose de cet arbre en Afrique du Nord.
Bulletin de la Société des Sciences Naturelles du Maroc 33: 199-205, 1953.

[✮]
Sama G.:
Atlas of the Cerambycidae of Europe and the Mediterranean Area. Volume 2: Northern Africa from Morocco to Egypt and Atlantic Isles.
Natura Edizioni Scientifiche di Alfonso Iorio, Bologna, Italy, 435 pp., 2023.
ISBN: 978-88-89327-16-6

Trócoli S.:
Actualización del catálogo de Longicornios de Marruecos / Actualisation du catalogue des Longicornes du Maroc (Parte II / Partie II : Cerambycidae, Lepturinae, Vesperidae).
Revue de l'Association Roussillonnaise d'Entomologie (R.A.R.E.) 28 (2): 72-84, 2019. [download pdf icon]



 
SubfamiliaLepturinae Latreille, 1802
TribusRhagiini Kirby, 1837
GenusRhagium Fabricius, 1775
SubgenusRhagium Fabricius, 1775
SpeciesRhagium inquisitor (Linnaeus, 1758)
SubspeciesRhagium inquisitor cedri Reymond, 1953