[= Hecyrida sordida Fåhraeus, 1872]
[= Ælara severaDuvivier, 1892]
Subfamilia: LAMIINAE / Tribus: PTEROPLIINI
[Photo © David Navrátil, click on the picture for 4K resolution]
Niphona appendiculata, an interesting representative of African entomofauna extending in the north of its distribution range to Arabian Peninsula (Saudi Arabia), has been described from Lake Jipe environs (Tanzania) by Carl Eduard Adolph Gerstaecker in 1871 [▽]. Larvae of this species develop in dying and dead wood of many broadleaf trees (Wachellia spp., Albizzia spp., Bosquieia phoberos, Hymenocardia ulmoides, Manihot utilissima, Manilkara sp.) [▽].
Body length: 13 - 19 mm Life cycle: probably 2 years Adults in: almost whole year (depends on locality; March–September in Saudi Arabia [✳][✮]) Host plant: broadly polyphagous species (Ficus sp., Searsia sp., Ephedra sp., Wachellia spp., Albizzia spp., Bosquieia phoberos, Hymenocardia ulmoides, Manihot utilissima, Manilkara sp.) Distribution: Saudi Arabia, Africa (Ethiopia, Somalia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Tanzania, Angola, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, RSA)
The depicted mounted beetles were reared from larvae found in: ♂ - Ficus sp. branch in Wadi Lajb (Jabal al Qahr, Jizan Region, Saudi Arabia) on October 20, 2025; ♀ - Searsia sp. branch in Al Bahah (ٱلْبَاحَة) environs (Jabal al Qahr, Jizan Region, Saudi Arabia) on October 22, 2025;Collected by Petr Papoušek
[▽]
Gerstaecker C.E.A.:
Beitrag zur Insectenfauna von Zanzibar - III - Coleoptera.
Archiv für Naturgeschichte 37 (1): 42–86, 1871. [download]
[▽]
Breuning S. & Teocchi P.:
Notes concernant la bionomie de quelques Lamiaires africains.
Bulletin Mensuel de la Société Linnéenne de Lyon 50 (8) : 254-272, 1981. [download[✳]
Holzschuh C. and Téocchi P.:
Cerambycidae (Coleoptera) of Saudi Arabia: Part I, Lamiinae.
Fauna of Saudi Arabia 12 [1991]: 295-311, 1992. [download[✮]
Rapuzzi P. and al Dhafer H.:
The Cerambycidae fauna of Saudi Arabia (Coleoptera).
Revue suisse de Zoologie 131 (1): 177-217, 2024. [download
Male genitalia of Niphona (Niphona) appendiculata Gerstaecker, 1871 in detail: A. aedeagus, B. lateral lobes, C. subgenital plate.
[Photo © David Navrátil]
| Subfamilia | Lamiinae Latreille, 1825 |
| Tribus | Pteropliini Thomson, 1860 |
| Genus | Niphona Mulsant, 1839 |
| Subgenus | Niphona Mulsant, 1839 |
| Species | Niphona (Niphona) appendiculata Gerstaecker, 1871 |