Cephalocrius syriacus (Reitter, 1895)
[= Criocephalus syriacus Reitter, 1895]
[= Arhopalus syriacus (Reitter, 1895)]

Subfamilia: SPONDYLIDINAE  /  Tribus: ASEMINI
Cephalocrius syriacus

[Photo © David Navrátil, click on the picture for 4K resolution]

Cephalocrius syriacus is apparently distributed in the whole of the Mediterranean region. It develops in pines (Pinus pinaster, Pinus nigra salzmanni, Pinus nigra laricio, Pinus halepensis). Larvae feed first under the bark, later in the wood of dead, fallen or standing trunks of greater diameter, in stumps and often in shallow roots. Adults of this nocturnal species can be found on the host plants at night or in bark crevices and under loose bark at day [✳][✧]. The species has been described from historic Syria (Haifa and Akbes) as Criocephalus syriacus by Edmund Reitter in 1895 [❖].

Body length:12 - 23 mm
Life cycle:2 - 3 years
Adults in:May - August
Host plant:pines (Pinus), rarely spruce (Picea)
Distribution:South Europe, Turkey, Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Canary Islands


The depicted mounted beetles were reared from larvae found in trunk of dead Pinus canariensis in Bosquede la Esperanza environs (1685 m a.s.l., NE Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain) on June 26, 2019 together with larvae of the sister species Arhopalus pinetorum (Wollaston, 1863).

Collected by David Navrátil


[❖]
Reitter E.:
Beschreibung neuer oder wenig gekannter Coleopteren aus der Umgebung von Akbes in Syrien.
Wiener Entomologische Zeitung 14 (3): 79-88 [85-86], 1895. [download pdf icon]

[✳]
Trócoli S.:
Actualización del catálogo de Longicornios de Marruecos Actualisation du catalogue des Longicornes du Maroc (Parte I / Partie I : Prioninae, Aseminae, Saphaninae).
Revue de l'Association Roussillonnaise d'Entomologie 27 (3): 130-140, 2018. [download pdf icon]

[✧]
Vives E. and Trócoli S.:
Cerambycidae de la Macaronesia (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae).
Faunitaxys 9 (44): 1-50, 2021. [download pdf icon]



 
SubfamiliaSpondylidinae Audinet-Serville, 1832
TribusAsemini Thomson, 1860
GenusCephalocrius Sharp, 1905
SpeciesCephalocrius syriacus (Reitter, 1895)