Anthaxia quadripunctata

Anthaxia quadripunctata
Mating Anthaxia quadripunctata
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Family: Buprestidae
Genus: Anthaxia
Species: A. quadripunctata
Binomial name
Anthaxia quadripunctata
(Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms
  • Melanthaxia quadripunctata

Anthaxia quadripunctata, the Metallic wood-boring beetle, is a species of jewel beetles belonging to the family Buprestidae, subfamily Buprestinae.

Subspecies

Description

Anthaxia quadripunctata can reach a length of 4.5 and 8 millimetres (0.18 and 0.31 in). The basic color is black or dark brown with a copper shine. The elytra and pronotum are grainy. Pronotum is almost rectangular and usually shows a row of four small dimples (hence the Latin name quadripunctata, meaning with four points).

Adults fly from April to September feeding on pollen of several Asteraceae and prefer white and yellow flowers, where frequently many of them are mating. Larvae are polyphagous wood borers, living just under the bark of sick or dead coniferous trees. Main larval host plants are in genus Picea, Abies, Juniperus, Larix and Pinus.

Distribution

This beetle is present in most of Europe, in the East Palearctic ecozone, the Caucasus, Asia Minor, the Near East and in North Africa.

Habitat

They live in mountain areas with coniferous trees, especially in the forest edges.

References

External links


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, September 05, 2013. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.