Saperda punctata is a vulnerable species in Central Europe. The main reason for its decreasing abundance must be seen in dying out of its hosts, old elm (Ulmus) trees, suffering from the Dutch elm disease (tracheomycosis). However, as we could observe this species can also develop in other tree species. We have recorded it from Quercus and Salix. In our opinion the ability of the beetle to develop in alternative hosts will ensure the population continuity even in areas where old elm trees die out totally. In SE Europe the species is more abundant. Larvae of this species feed subcortically in dead trunks of the hosts. Later they enter the sapwood creating a short pupal cell. The larvae secure themselves there by a wad of fibrous frass, a very typical phenomenon in all European Saperda species (S. perforata, S. scalaris, and S. octopunctata).
The living beetle was beaten from dying elm (Ulmus) near Perivoli village (SW of Corfu Island, Greece). The mounted beetles were reared from larvae found under bark of a dead elm (Ulmus) trunk in Bøeclav (South Moravia, Czech Republic). Collected by M.Hoskovec.
MH & MR © September 7, 2007
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