[= Anaerea carcharias (Linnaeus, 1758)]
Subfamilia: LAMIINAE / Tribus: SAPERDINI
Saperda carcharias ♀ [Photo © Tamás Németh]
Saperda carcharias, a widely distributed Palaearctic species and the biggest member of Saperda genus, has been described from Sweden as Cerambyx carcharias by Karl Linné in 1758 [❖]. S. carcharias is a species typically found in younger poplar monocultures, tree alleys, and individual trees at forest edges, field hedgerows, seedling nurseries, and similar habitats. Larval development occurs exclusively in living trees ranging from young saplings to trees approximately 20–25 years old, typically with diameters ranging from 4 to 30 cm. The lower part of the trunk is primarily attacked, often extending into the underground portion. Larval feeding occurs inside the stem or trunk. Piles of discarded frass reveal the feeding activity. The development cycle lasts three years. It always overwinters in the larval stage and pupates in late spring. Adults, active from mid-June to September (peak in July), can be found primarily in tree crowns, where they gnaw holes in leaves and chew on thin twigs [✬][✳].
Body length: 20 - 32 mm Life cycle: 3 years Adults in: June - September Host plant: in Central Europe prefers Populus tremula but also in other Populus species, rarely in Salix, Fraxinus or Alnus Distribution: Europe, whole Eurasian continental territory of Russian federation, Caucasus, China, Kazakhstan, Korea, Mongolia
The depicted female beetles were photographed in Hungary (TN) and in Prague-Kánovice (Central Bohemia, Czechia) on August 3, 2017 (DR). The male beetle was photographed in Breitenlee (Wien, Austria) on July 31, 2025.Collected by Tamás Németh, Daniel Rydzi and and Per Hoffmann Olsen
[❖]
Linné C.:
Systema naturæ per regna tria naturæ secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis.
Systema naturae (Editio 10) Laur. Salvius, Holmiae 1: 824pp [page 394], 1758. [download]
[✬]
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 316-317], 1998 [ISBN: 80-238-2627-1]. [download[✳]
Vitali F.:
Atlas of the Insects of the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg: Coleoptera, Cerambycidae.
Ferrantia, Musée national d’histoire naturelle, Luxembourg 79: 1-208 [pages 122-123], 2018. [download
Saperda carcharias ♀ [Photo © Daniel Rydzi]
Saperda carcharias ♂ [Photo © Per Hoffmann Olsen]
| Subfamilia | Lamiinae Latreille, 1825 |
| Tribus | Saperdini Mulsant, 1839 |
| Genus | Saperda Fabricius, 1775 |
| Subgenus | Saperda Fabricius, 1775 |
| Species | Saperda (Saperda) carcharias (Linnaeus, 1758) |