Stictoleptura (Melanoleptura) scutellata (Fabricius, 1781)
[= Cerambyx carbonarius Scopoli, 1763]
[= Leptura scutellata Fabricius, 1781]
[= Corymbia scutellata (Fabricius, 1781)]
[= Melanoleptura scutellata (Fabricius, 1781)]

Subfamilia: LEPTURINAE  /  Tribus: LEPTURINI
Stictoleptura scutellata miroshnikovi

Stictoleptura (Melanoleptura) scutellata miroshnikovi Danilevsky, 2012 [Photo © Sergei O. Kakunin, click on the picture for 4K resolution]

Stictoleptura scutellata, a Western Palaearctic thermophilic species distributed from Atlantic coast to North Iran, is in preserved localities of Central Europe relatively common species ecologically related to beech forests. This remarkable longhorn beetle develops in Fagales, in Central, North and West Europe especially in beech (Fagus sylvestris), but also in other deciduous trees. Larval development in completely dead deciduous wood from about 12 cm in diameter to unlimited thickness, in trunks of dead standing trees, in wood lying on the ground, in trunk cavities, dry branches, abraded areas without bark on dead parts of living trees, et cetera. Pupation in wood, life-cycle at least 2 years. Adults, active from late May to September, can be found on the host trees (especially ovipositing females) or on flowers (predominantly males) [✧][✩][❖].

The first name used for the current taxon Stictoleptura scutellata, Cerambyx carbonarius by Giovanni Antonio Scopoli from 1763 [✳], is considered a nomen dubium and so the first valid one is Leptura scutellata, according the Italian syntypes described by Johann Christian Fabricius in 1781 [✮].

Body length:12 - 21 mm
Life cycle:2 - 3 years
Adults in:May - September
Host plant:polyphagous in deciduous trees (Fagus, Carpinus, Quercus, Alnus, Populus etc.)
Distribution:Europe except North, North Africa, Turkey, Caucasus, Transcaucasia, North Iran


The mounted beetles were collected in: S. scutellata miroshnikovi - vicinity of road Tegran-Chalus (314 m a.s.l., 20 km to Chalus, Mazandaran province, Iran) on May 27, 2015; S. scutellata melas - Lago Maulazzo/Monte Soro environs (Parco Naturale dei Nebrodi, Sicily, Italy) on June 19, 1986.

The living beetles (S. scutellata scutellata) were: (DR) - collected in Mara village environs (Maramureș county, Nord-Vest region, Romania) on July 13, 2018; (ML/MP) - reared from larva collected in trunk of dead Fagus sylvatica in Křivoklátsko Protected Landscape Area (Central Bohemia, Czechia) during winter 2020-2021; (MH) - observed in Morské oko lake environs (Remetské Hamre, Vihorlat Mts., Sobrance district, Košice region, East Slovakia) on July 7, 2006.

The living couple of S. scutellata scutellata was photographed in Remetské Hamre village environs (Vihorlat Mts., Sobrance district, Košice region, East Slovakia) on July 10, 2021.

Collected by Sergei O. Kakunin, Pierpaolo Rapuzzi, Daniel Rydzi, Miroslav Polcar and Michal Hoskovec


S. scutellata melas
Stictoleptura (Melanoleptura) scutellata melas (Lucas, 1847)
[Photo © David Navrátil, click on the picture for 4K resolution]

[✧]
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 243-244], 1998 [ISBN: 80-238-2627-1]. [download pdf icon]

[✩]
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 86-87], 2018. [download pdf icon]

[❖]
Danilevsky M.L.:
Longicorn beetles (Coleoptera, Cerambycoidea) of Russia and adjacent countries. Part 1.
Higher School Consulting, Moscow, 550pp [pages 269-271], 2014. [download pdf icon]

[✳]
Scopoli G.A.:
Entomologia Carniolica exhibens Insecta Carniolæ indigena et distribua in ordines, genera, species, varietates. Methodo Linnæana.
Typis Ioannis Thomae Trattner, Vindobonae 6 + i-xxiii + 421pp [page 56], 1763. [download pdf icon]

[✮]
Fabricius J.C.:
Species insectorum exhibentes eorum differentias specificas, synonyma auctorum, loca natalia, metamorphosin adiectis observationibus, descriptionibus.
Hamburgi et Kilonii: Impensis Carol Ernest Bohnii 1: 552pp [page 247], 1781. [download pdf icon]


Several subspecies have been described for this species [S. s. inscutellata (Pic, 1891); S. s. maritima Sláma, 2015; S. s. melas (Lucas, 1847); S. s. miroshnikovi Danilevsky, 2012; S. s. ochracea (Faust, 1878)] which the authors do not divided them here to separate pages due to certain ambiguities in their determination and distribution. Moreover, even among experts, the opinion on their validity is not completely uniform and for some of them it is really debatable (especially for cinnamon-coloured specimens often determined as S. s. ochracea). These ochre, brown or cinnamon coulored beetles are collected over majority of the species area of occurence together with a typical black from. In any case, the taxon Stictoleptura scutellata deserves a comprehensive revision of its infra-special structure.

Stictoleptura (Melanoleptura) scutellata inscutellata (Pic, 1891) [= Leptura ? scutellata var. inscutellata Pic, 1891]
Pic M.:
Descriptions de Longicornes de Syrie.
L. Jacquet, Lyon, 3pp., 1891.

Pic M.:
Voyage de M. Charles Delagrange dans la Haute-Syrie. Année 1891 (1) Longicornes.
Annales de la Société Entomologique de France, Paris 61: 413-422, 1892. [download pdf icon]

Stictoleptura (Melanoleptura) scutellata maritima Sláma, 2015
Sláma M.E.F.:
Taxonomic remarks on some west-palaearctic longhorn beetles (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae) and description of a new subspecies.
Biocosme Mésogéen, Nice 32 (1-2): 33-50, 2015. [download pdf icon]

Stictoleptura (Melanoleptura) scutellata melas (Lucas, 1847) [= Leptura melas Lucas, 1847]
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, 1847. [download pdf icon]

Stictoleptura (Melanoleptura) scutellata miroshnikovi Danilevsky, 2012
Danilevsky M.L.:
Additions and corrections to the new Catalogue of Palaearctic Cerambycidae (Coleoptera) edited by I. Löbl and A. Smetana, 2010. Part. VI.
Humanity space - International Almanac 1 (4): 900-943, 2012. [download pdf icon]

Stictoleptura (Melanoleptura) scutellata ochracea (Faust, 1878) [= Leptura scutellata var. ochracea Faust, 1878]
Faust J.E.:
Beiträge zur Kenntniss der Käfer des Europäischen und Asiatischen Russlands mit Einschluss der Küsten des Kaspischen Meeres..
Horae Societatis Entomologicae Rossicae, St. Petersbourg 14 (1-2) [1877]: 113-139, 1878. [download pdf icon]


Stictoleptura scutellata scutellata
Stictoleptura (Melanoleptura) scutellata scutellata (Fabricius, 1781) [Photo © Daniel Rydzi]
Stictoleptura scutellata scutellata
Stictoleptura scutellata scutellata
Stictoleptura (Melanoleptura) scutellata scutellata (Fabricius, 1781) [Photo © Milan Lovětínský]
Stictoleptura scutellata scutellata
Stictoleptura scutellata scutellata
Stictoleptura (Melanoleptura) scutellata scutellata (Fabricius, 1781) [Photo © Michal Hoskovec]
Stictoleptura scutellata scutellata
Stictoleptura (Melanoleptura) scutellata scutellata (Fabricius, 1781) [Photo © Daniel Rydzi]


 
SubfamiliaLepturinae Latreille, 1802
TribusLepturini Latreille, 1802
GenusStictoleptura Casey, 1924
SubgenusMelanoleptura Miroshnikov, 1998
SpeciesStictoleptura (Melanoleptura) scutellata (Fabricius, 1781)