Distenia gracilis, an interesting species occuring in North-East Asia (Russia, China, Japan, Korea), has been described from "Port-Mai"
(Zolotoy Rog/Золотой Рог, Primorsky Krai, Russian Far East) as Apheles gracilis by Constantin Blessig in 1872 [▽]. According to repeated observations by Mikhail L. Danilevsky
and his colleagues in Primorsky krai, D. gracilis larvae develop under the bark and in the upper layer of wood of Chosenia arbutifolia (Salicaceae) dead roots [✮].
Infested trees appear healthy on the outside. Development of the species is also reported in roots of Salix, Alnus, Ficus, Pinus, Picea, or Abies [✧][▽].
Adults, active from June to August, do not visit flowers.
| Body length: | ♂♂ 19 - 24 mm / ♀♀ 23 - 34 mm |
| Life cycle: | 2 years |
| Adults in: | June - August |
| Host plant: | polyphagous in both deciduous and coniferous trees (Chosenia, Salix, Alnus, Ficus, Pinus, Picea, Abies) |
| Distribution: | North China (Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning), Korea, Russia (Far East) |
The depicted male beetle was collected in headwaters of the Zolotisty (Золотистый) creek (N43°05′35″ E131°32′20″;
Kedrovaya Pad Nature Reserve, Khasansky district, South of Primorsky krai, Far Eastern Federal District, Russia) on August 17, 2018.
Collected by Andrey V. Matalin and Kirill V. Makarov
[❖]
Blessig C.:
Zur Kenntniss der Käferfauna Süd-Ost-Sibiriens insbesondere des Amur-Landes. Longicornia.
Horae Societatis Entomologicae Rossicae, St. Petersbourg 9 (2): 161-260, 1872.
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[✮]
Danilevsky M.L.:
Longicorn beetles (Coleoptera, Cerambycoidea) of Russia and adjacent countries. Part 1.
Higher School Consulting, Moscow, 550pp [page 22], 2014.
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[✧]
Bi Wenxuan and Lin Meiying:
Description of a new species of Distenia (Coleoptera, Disteniidae, Disteniini) from Southeastern China, with records and diagnoses of similar species.
ZooKeys 275: 77–89, 2013.
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[▽]
Lim J., Jung S.-Y., Lim J.-S., Jang J.n, Kim K.-M., Lee Y.-M. and Lee B.-W.:
A Review of Host Plants of Cerambycidae (Coleoptera: Chrysomeloidea) with new Host Records for Fourteen Cerambycids, Including the Asian Longhorn Beetle (Anoplophora glabripennis Motschulsky), in Korea.
Korean Journal of Applied Entomology 53 (2): 111-133, 2014.
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