Phytoecia (Opsilia) malachitica Lucas, 1849
[= Opsilia malachitica (Lucas, 1849)]

Subfamilia: LAMIINAE  /  Tribus: SAPERDINI
Phytoecia malachitica
[Photo © David Navrátil & 8K postprocessing M.Hoskovec]

Beautiful Phytoecia malachitica, a species occuring in the South-Western Mediterranean, has been described from Arzew (Algeria) by Pierre Hippolyte Lucas in 1849 [▽]. Developmental stages and biology of this interesting species, developing in Boraginaceae plants (Cerinthe major, Cynoglossum clandestinum), were described in detail by Antonio Verdugo and José Hernández in 2001 [❖].

Body length:5 - 10,5 mm
Life cycle:1 year
Adults in:January - March
Host plant:Boraginaceae (Cerinthe major, Cynoglossum clandestinum)
Distribution:Italy, Portugal, Spain, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia


The depicted beetles were collected in: ♂ Dos Hermanas environs (Seville province, Andalusia, Spain) on April 2, 2015; ♀ "La Sua" - Rio Guadaira (Seville province, Andalusia, Spain) on February 4, 1996.

Collected by T.Alcantara and J.Navarro


[▽]
Lucas P.H.:
Histoire Naturelle des animaux articulés. Coléoptères.
In Exploration scientifique de l'Algérie pendant les années 1840, 1841, 1842.
Sciences Physiques et Zoologie II. (Deuxième partie. Insectes) [1846] 2: 590pp, 1849. [download pdf icon]

[❖]
Verdugo A. and Hernández J.M.: 2001.
Descripción de los estados inmaduros de Opsilia malachitica (Lucas, 1849) y datos sobre su ciclo biológico en algunas poblaciones de la provincia de Cádiz, sur de la Península Ibérica (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Lamiinae).
Elytron 15: 31-42, 2001. [download pdf icon]



 
SubfamiliaLamiinae Latreille, 1825
TribusSaperdini Mulsant, 1839
GenusPhytoecia Pic, 1892
SubgenusOpsilia Mulsant, 1863
SpeciesPhytoecia (Opsilia) malachitica Lucas, 1849