Ropalopus ledereri, a beautiful and very rare species of the southeastern Mediterranean region, has beed described from Asia Minor by Léon Marc Herminie Fairmaire in 1866 [▽].
R. ledereri, together with its sister species Ropalopus wittmeri Demelt, 1970, is a typical inhabitant of quickly receding
Quercus coccifera forest-steppe formations.
Larval biology is similar to Ropalopus varini. R. ledereri larvae develop in twigs and thin branches
of oaks, reported was also from Crataegus, Prunus and Carpinus [✮]. Adult beetles can be found sitting on leaves of the hosts or occasionally they gather on juice-oozing
oak trees. They never visit flowers.
| Body length: | 9 - 14 mm |
| Life cycle: | 2 years |
| Adults in: | May - June |
| Host plant: | predominantly in oaks (Quercus spp.), also in Crataegus, Prunus and Carpinus |
| Distribution: | Israel, Jordan, Turkey |
The depicted mounted beetle was beaten from a living oak (Quercus) in Karadut village environs (Nemrut Dagi National Park, Adiyaman province, Anatolia, SE Turkey)
on June 17, 1996. The living specimen was reared ex ovo (on Crataegus twig), the parents were reared from larvae found in Crataegus twigs in Ajloun (عجلون) environs (Ajloun governorate, Jordan) on
April 4, 2024.
Collected by Michal Hoskovec and Petr Papoušek
[▽]
Fairmaire L.M.H.:
Notice sur les Coléoptères récoltés par M. J. Lédérer sur le Bosz-Dagh (Asie Mineure).
Annales de la Société Entomologique de France, Paris (4) 6: 249-280, 1866.
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[✮]
Özdikmen H.:
Taxonomic status of Ropalopus ledereri (Fairmaire) and Ropalopus wittmeri Demelt with new host plants and records from Turkey (Cerambycidae: Cerambycinae).
Munis Entomology & Zoology 18 (1): 625-628, 2023.
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Sama G.:
Su alcuni nuovi o interessanti Cerambicidi del medio Oriente (Insecta Coleoptera Cerambycidae).
Quaderni di Studi e Notizie di Storia Naturale della Romagna 13 (supplemento): 91-105, 2000.
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