Ropalopus wittmeri, known from Lebanon, Syria and South Turkey, has been described by Carl von Demelt in 1970 as a subspecies of Ropalopus (Ropalopus) ledereri Fairmaire, 1866 [❖][▽]. It was promoted to species level by Hüseyin Özdikmen in 2023 [✮].

Both Ropalopus wittmeri and Ropalopus ledereri are typical inhabitants of quickly receding Quercus calliprinos forest-steppe formations. 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:	10 - 15 mm
Life cycle:	2 years
Adults in:	May - June
Host plant:	oaks (Quercus spp.)
Distribution:	Lebanon, Syria, South Turkey

The depicted beetle was reared from larva found in oak (Quercus sp.) in Şenköy environs (700 m a.s.l., Antakya district, Hatay province, Turkey) on May 27, 1995.

Collected by Pierpaolo Rapuzzi

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[❖]
Demelt C.:
Eine neue Cerambycidenart aus Griechenland, eine neue Subspec. aus Kleinasien sowie einige neue Cerambycidenformen.
Entomologische Blätter für Biologie und Systematik der Käfer 66 (1): 30-32, 1970. [download ]

[▽]
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. [download ]

[✮]
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. [download ]

Sama G., Rapuzzi P. and Kairouz A.:
Catalogue commenté des Cerambycidae du Liban. An annotated catalogue of the Cerambycidae of Lebanon (Insecta Coleoptera Cerambycidae).
Quaderni di Studi e Notizie di Storia Naturale della Romagna 30: 131-201, 2010. [download ]