Agapanthia (Smaragdula) intermedia Ganglbauer, 1884

Subfamilia: LAMIINAE  /  Tribus: AGAPANTHIINI
Agapanthia intermedia
[Photo © Milan Lovětínský]

Agapanthia intermedia, a widely distributed West Palaearctic thermophilic species, has been described first as Agapanthia cyanea var. intermedia (A. cyanea is synonyme of A. violacea) from Central Europe by Ludwing Ganglbauer in 1884 [❖]. A. intermedia, a species which was decades regarded only as a variation of Agapanthia violacea (Fabricius, 1775) in older literature, is in Central Europe quite common beetle and can be found on the host-plant from May to August. Larvae of . intermedia develop in stalks of scabious (Knautia) species [✮][✳].

The taxonomy of the subgenus Smaragdula Pesarini & Sabbadini, 2004 is very complicated and there are many very contradictory views among cerambycidologists regarding the validity and real existence of many taxa. A comprehensive and detailed revision of the Smaragdula by our colleague and friend Karel Hodek from the summer of 2021 attempts to answer many questions concerning this issue [▽].

Body length:7 - 13 mm
Life cycle:1 year
Adults in:May - August
Host plant:Knautia arvensis, Knautia maxima, Knautia arvernensis, Knautia drymeia
Distribution:Austria, Czechia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Moldavia, Netherlands, Poland, Russia (northern, central and southern territories), Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine, Romania, Georgia, Kazakhstan


The living beetle was collected on field scabious (Knautia arvensis) in Pustověty village environs (N50°03′42″ E13°49′16″; Křivoklátsko Protected Landscape Area, Rakovník district, Central Bohemia, Czechia) on July 4, 2022.

Collected by Miroslav Polcar


[❖]
Ganglbauer L.:
Bestimmungs-Tabellen der europäischen Coleopteren. VIII. Cerambycidae. (Schluss.) Mit Berücksichtigung der Formen Algiers und des paläarktischen Asiens, exclusive jener von Japan.
Verhandlungen der kaiserlich-königlichen zoologisch-botanischen Gesellschaft in Wien 33 [1883]: 437-586, 1884. [download pdf icon]

[✮]
Kovács T.:
Magyarországi cincérek tápnövény- és lelőhelyadatai II. (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae).
[Food-plants and locality data of Hungarian longhorn beetles II (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae).]
Folia Hisorico-Naturalia Musei Matraensis 22: 247-255, 1997. [download pdf icon]

[✳]
Szczepański W. and Szczepański W.T.:
Nowe stanowiska wybranych gatunków z rodziny kózkowatych (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) w Polsce południowo-zachodniej.
[The new localities of selected species of longhorn beetles (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) in south-west Poland.]
Acta Entomologica Silesiana 27 (012): 1-11, 2019. [download pdf icon]

[▽]
Hodek K.:
Review of the subgenus Smaragdula Pesarini & Sabbadini, 2004, and two new species from Turkey (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Laminae, Agapanthiini)
Natura Somogyiensis 36: 81-110, 2021. [download pdf icon]


Agapanthia intermedia
Agapanthia intermedia
Agapanthia intermedia
Agapanthia intermedia
[Photo © Milan Lovětínský]


 
SubfamiliaLamiinae Latreille, 1825
TribusAgapanthiini Mulsant, 1839
GenusAgapanthia Audinet-Serville, 1835
SubgenusSmaragdula Pesarini & Sabbadini, 2004
SpeciesAgapanthia (Smaragdula) intermedia Ganglbauer, 1884