Oberea (Amaurostoma) erythrocephala (Schrank, 1776)
ssp. erythrocephala (Schrank, 1776)

Subfamilia: LAMIINAE  /  Tribus: SAPERDINI
Oberea erythrocephala erythrocephala
[Photo © Daniel Rydzi]

Oberea erythrocephala, a widely distributed species (Europe except North, Middle East, Caucasus and Transaucaisa, Kazakthstan, Iran), has been described from Austria as Cerambyx erythrocephalus by Franz von Paula Schrank in 1776 [❖]. O. erythrocephala (sensu lato), together with other "spurge"-species of the Oberea's subgenus Amaurostoma, belongs thanks to extreme habitual variability among the very taxonomically problematic longhorn beetles. A number of subspecies have been described whose true validity is not entirely certain and the whole complex of taxa requires a detailed revision.

O. erythrocephala erythrocephala is a xerothermic beetle of steppes, forest-steppes, pastures, natural meadows and ruderal localities with Euphorbia stands. Its larvae develop in the basal part of the stem and roots of spurges (Euphorbia spp.), in Central Europe especially in cypress spurge (Euphorbia cyparissias). Life-cycle 1 year. Adults, active from May to July, can be found or swept from the host plants [✧].

Body length:6 - 15 mm
Life cycle:1 year
Adults in:May - July
Host plant:Euphorbia spp.
Distribution:Austria, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Crete, Croatia, Czechia, France, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey


The depicted living specimens were collected in: (DR) - Argelès-sur-Mer environs (Pyrénées-Orientales department, Languedoc-Roussillon-Midi-Pyrénées, France) on June 22, 2019; (IMP) - Lysaya gora (Лысая гора) environs (Volgograd, Volgograd oblast, Southern Federal district, Russia) on May 16, 2016.

Collected by Daniel Rydzi and Ivan M. Prystrem


[❖]
von Paula Schrank F.:
Beyträge zur Naturgeschichte. Mit sieben von Verfasser gezeichneten und in Kupfer gestochenen Tabellen.
Leipzig, Caspar Fritsch, 137 pp, 1776. [download pdf icon]

[✧]
Sláma M.E.F.:
Tesaříkovití – Cerambycidae České republiky a Slovenské republiky / Cerambycidae of the Czech Republic and Slovak Republic.
Milan Sláma private printing, Krhanice, 383pp [pages 328-329], 1998 [ISBN: 80-238-2627-1]. [download pdf icon]


Oberea erythrocephala erythrocephala
[Photo © Daniel Rydzi]
Oberea erythrocephala erythrocephala
[Photo © Ivan M. Prystrem]


 
SubfamiliaLamiinae Latreille, 1825
TribusSaperdini Mulsant, 1839
GenusOberea Dejean, 1835
SubgenusAmaurostoma Müller, 1906
SpeciesOberea (Amaurostoma) erythrocephala (Schrank, 1776)
SubspeciesOberea (Amaurostoma) erythrocephala erythrocephala (Schrank, 1776)