[= Stromatium fulvum (Villers, 1789)]
[= Stromatium unicolor (Olivier, 1795)]
Subfamilia: CERAMBYCINAE / Tribus: HESPEROPHANINI
[Photo © David Navrátil, click on the picture for 4K resolution]
Stromatium auratum, a widely distributed xerophilic Palaearctic Cerambycid (known from whole Mediterranena region, Caucasus/Transcaucasia, Central Asia, Near East and Iran), has been first described from France as Cerambyx Fulvus by Charles Joseph Villers in 1789 [✧]. Lately was this taxon included in the genus Stromatium and under the name Stromatium fulvum was known for more than 150 years. But due to preoccupation of the name fulvum is its valid species name auratum, used fist by Johann Jakob Ritter von Böber in his description from 1793 (as Saperda aurata) [❖]. The restitution of the taxon S. auratum (Böber, 1793) was published by Maxim Lazarev in 2014 [▽].
Larvae of S. auratum develop in dead wood of many tree species, even when dry, for prolonged time, and their life cycle can take several years. These characteristics facilitate survival even during long overseas travels. The beetles are therefore often carried over long distances in wooden furniture, wood packaging and other wooden material. It is probably reason of the introduction of S. auratum to Subsaharan Africa, North, Central and South America [✮]. The species is considered an important technical pest of processed wood.
Body length: 12 - 32 mm Life cycle: 2 and more years Adults in: May - August Host plant: polyphagous in dead dry wood of various trees, prefers deciduous trees Distribution: whole Mediterranean region, Hungary, Romania, Iran, Near East, Caucasus, Transcaucasia
The depicted beetles were reared from a larvae found in a dead branch of Acer sempervirens in Imbros (Ιμβρος) village environs (N35°14′35″ E24°09′48″; 770 m a.s.l., Chania regional unit, Crete, Greece) on June 26, 2018.Collected by David Navrátil and Daniel Rydzi
[✧]
Villers Ch.J.:
Caroli Linnaei entomologica, faunæ suecicæ descriptionibus aucta; DD. Scopoli, Geoffroy, de Geer, Fabricii, Schrank, &c. speciebus vel in Systemate non enumeratis, vel nuperrime detectis, vel speciebus Galliæ Australis locupletata, generum specierumque rariorum iconibus ornata..
Piestre et Delamollière, Lugdunum 1: 765pp, 1789. [download]
[❖]
Ritter von Böber J.J.:
Ueber einige entomologishe Merkwurdigkeiten von Taurien. Aus einem Schreiben von Herrn Ritter Böber, aus Jekaterinoslaw, vom 13. Dezember 1793.
Magazin des Thierreichs 1: 135-140, 1793. [download[▽]
Lazarev M.A.:
Taxonomy notes (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae).
Humanity space International almanac 3 (2): 272-285, 2014. [download[✮]
Cocquempot Ch., Drumont A., Brosens D. and Ghate H.V.:
First interception of the cerambycid beetle Stromatium longicorne (Newman, 1842) in Belgium and distribution notes on other species of Stromatium (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Cerambycinae).
Bulletin de la Société royale belge d'Entomologie 150: 201-206, 2014. [download
[Photo © Daniel Rydzi]
| Subfamilia | Cerambycinae Latreille, 1802 |
| Tribus | Hesperophanini Mulsant, 1839 |
| Genus | Stromatium Audinet-Serville, 1834 |
| Species | Stromatium auratum (Böber, 1793) |