Trichoferus pallidus (Olivier, 1790)

Subfamilia: CERAMBYCINAE  /  Tribus: HESPEROPHANINI
Trichoferus pallidus
[Photo © David Navrátil & 8K postprocessing M.Hoskovec]

In Central Europe Trichoferus pallidus is a very rare and almost monophagous species. It develops in oaks (Quercus spp.), only very occasionally in Tilia or Castanea sativa. Larvae feed subcortically in dead standing trunks or thick branches, creating broad shallow galleries and later they build a pupal cell in the bark or in the sapwood. Trichoferus pallidus is a nocturnal species and is attracted to light.

Body length:10 - 20 mm
Life cycle:1 - 2 years
Adults in:June - July
Host plant:polyphagous in deciduous trees, but strongly prefers oak (Quercus)
Distribution:Central and West Europe, Crimea, North Caucaus


The species has been decades considered as very rare in Czechia, with very limited known area of distribution in South Moravia (Břeclav environs). Surprisingly, species was recently (2017) discovered by our friend Jan Bořucký in probably the best preserved broadleaf Central European temperate forests complex in Bohemia - Křivoklátsko Protected Landscape Area (which is also declared as UNESCO Biosphere reserve) [❖].

The depicted living beetles were reared from larvae found under the bark of a dead standing oaks in (Quercus robur), Křivoklátsko Protected Landscape Area (Central Bohemia, Czechia) in 2020. The mounted specimens were collected in Hodonín environs (South Moravia, Czechia) in June 27, 2013.

Collected by Miroslav Polcar and David Navrátil


[❖]
Bořucký J.:
První nález tesaříka Trichoferus pallidus (Olivier, 1790) (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae) v Čechách / First find of longhorn beetle Trichoferus pallidus (Olivier, 1790) (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae) in Bohemia.
Západočeské entomologické listy 8: 55–57, 2017. [download pdf icon]


Trichoferus pallidus
[Photo © Milan Lovětínský]
Trichoferus pallidus
Trichoferus pallidus
Trichoferus pallidus
Trichoferus pallidus
[Photo © Milan Lovětínský]


 
SubfamiliaCerambycinae Latreille, 1802
TribusHesperophanini Mulsant, 1839
GenusTrichoferus Wollaston, 1854
SpeciesTrichoferus pallidus (Olivier, 1790)