Batocera rufomaculata, a striking large longhorn beetle originally from the Oriental region (today introduced to almost all warm regions of the Old and New World), has been described from India
as Cerambyx rufomaculatus by Carl Degeer in 1775 [▽]. The larvae of this species, called also "mango stem borer", develop in plethora of living broadleaf trees. B. rufomaculata
belongs both in the area of its original occurrence and in the countries where it was introduced to the serious orchard pests in many of fruit trees (fig, mango, papaya, walnut, jackfruit etc.).
Body length: | 24 - 60 mm |
Life cycle: | 1 - 2 years |
Adults in: | March - November (depends on region) |
Host plant: | polyphagous in broadleaf trees (in Palaearctic region known e.g. from Ficus carica, Carica papaya, Mangifera indica, Juglans regia) |
Distribution: | Oriental region, introduced to Mediterranean region (Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey), Arabian Peninsula (Oman, Yemen), Africa and Central America |
Depicted mounted beetle was collected in Bentota environs (Galle district, Southern province, Sri Lanka) on May 20, 1980. The living beetle was collected in Wadi Darbat N of Taqah
(160 m a.s.l., Dhofar province, Oman) on April 11, 2013.
Collected by our friends Udo Schmidt and Pavel Kučera.
[▽]
Degeer C.:
Mémoires pour servir à l'histoire des insectes.
Stockholm, Imprimerie Pierre Hesselberg 5: v + 448pp, 1775.
[download ]