habitat & biology
[Photo © David Navrátil]
Typical habitat of Trichoferus berberidis in Omalos environs with regular occurence of the species' host plant Berberis cretica.
[Photo © David Navrátil]
Cretan barberry (Berberis cretica L., Berberidaceae) is deciduous shrub, 150-200 cm tall, richly branched, distinctly thorny. The species originates in the Eastern Mediterranean (Crete, Cyprus, apparently Lebanon and Israel). It grows on rocky habitats, at the lower part of the supra-Mediterranean stage, at an altitude of about 900-1100 m.
[Photo © David Navrátil]
Pupa of Trichoferus berberidis in stem of Berberis cretica.
[Photo © Milan Sláma]
The picture show a very typical galleries and exit holes in Berberidis cretica stems (origin: Crete) created by larvae/adults of Trichoferus berberidis.
[Photographs are published with the kind permission of Milan Sláma]