Subfamilia: LAMIINAE / Tribus: SAPERDINI
[Photo © Milan Lovětínský]
Saperda perforata, a widely distributed species of the Palaearctic forest belt (occuring from West Europe to Far East), has been described from Siberia as Cerambyx perforatus by Peter Simon Pallas in 1773 [✱].
Although this nice Saperda species used to be quite rare in Central Europe, it has now become more frequent. The species develops in various poplars (Populus). In Central Bohemia, however, it prefers aspen (Populus tremula). The larvae feed subcortically in trunks or branches of the dead hosts. They require a very moist substrate. Pupation occurs in sapwood. Interestingly, the colour of the adults is determined by the larval host. The integument of beetles that have developped in aspen (P. tremula) is regularly of a yellow-green or yellow-grey colour, whereas beetles that have developed in white poplar (P. alba) are usually grey (prototypical mimicry). Life cycle one or two years. Adults, active from late May to early August (peak in June), are crepuctular/nocturnal and can be found on the host trees or attracted by light.
Body length: 12 - 20 mm Life cycle: 1 - 2 years Adults in: May - August Host plant: poplars (Populus spp. - Populus alba, Populus tremula) Distribution: Azerbaijan, Albania, Armenia, Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Belarus, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldavia, Nederland, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, Serbia and Montenegro, Iran, China, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Far East, East and Western Siberia, Algeria
The living beetle was reared from larva found in dead aspen (Populus tremula) in Pustověty village environs (Rakovník district, Central Bohemia, Czechia) in April 2022. The depicted mounted beetles were reared from larvae and pupae collected in Lodrant lake environs (Pardubice district, Pardubice region, East Bohemia, Czechia), Mníšek pod Brdy (Central Bohemia, Czechia) and Pohansko environs (Břeclav district, South Moravia, Czechia).Collected by Miroslav Polcar 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 312-313], 1998 [ISBN: 80-238-2627-1]. [download
[Photo © Michal Hoskovec]
[Photo © Milan Lovětínský]
[Photo © Milan Lovětínský]
| Subfamilia | Lamiinae Latreille, 1825 |
| Tribus | Saperdini Mulsant, 1839 |
| Genus | Saperda Fabricius, 1775 |
| Subgenus | Eusaperda Danilevsky, 2023 |
| Species | Saperda (Eusaperda) perforata (Pallas, 1773) |