ssp. faber (Linnaeus, 1761)
[= Cerambyx portitor Schrank, 1781]
[= Prionus bulzanensis Laicharting, 1784]
[= Prionus obscurus Olivier, 1795]
[= Prionus serrarius Panzer, 1793]
[= Prionus crenatus Fabricius, 1801]
[= Ergates grandiceps Tournier, 1872]
Subfamilia: PRIONINAE / Tribus: ERGATINI
[Photo © David Navrátil, click on the picture for 4K resolution]
Ergates faber is a widespread West Palearctic species which is in Central and Western Europe, however, in many places disappearing or extinct. E. faber has been described from Sweden as Cerambyx faber by Carl Linné in 1761 [✮]. Larvae of this beautiful species, belonging among the the biggest European longhorn beetles, develop in tree stumps and fallen logs, mainly of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris). The adults are active around sunset and can be found from late July until late August-early September [❖].
Interesting is the population of Ergates faber (mounted beetles with indices B) from Tazekka National Park (Taza province, Morocco) which is habitally different from the standard E. faber faber and also from Ergates faber opifex Mulsant, 1851 (mainly darker colouration and pronotum shape/structure). A large series of adults with the same characters were reared from pupae by our colleague Zdeněk Košťál and the question remains whether this is just a population or a subspecies.
Body length: 23 - 60 mm Life cycle: at least 3 years Adults in: July - September Host plant: coniferous trees, prefers pine (Pinus) Distribution: Portugal, Spain, France, Corsica, Italy, Sicily, Albania, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey, Hungary, Austria, Switzerland, Netherlands, Germany, Czechia, Slovakia, Poland, Sweden, Latvia, Lithuania, Belorussia, Ukraine, Crimea, European Russia; Algeria, Morocco, Caucasus, Transcaucasia, Near East, Turkey, Iran, Syria, China: Taiwan, Iraq
The depicted mounted beetles were: ♂Afe♂A – collected in Tomky environs (Borský Svätý Jur, Senica district, Trnava region, Slovakia) on July 27, 2004; ♂Bfe♂B – reared from pupae found in dead pine in Bab Azhar/Bouchfaa villages environs (35 km SW of Taza, Taza Province, Fez-Meknes region, Morocco) in August 2014.The living specimens were founs and photographed in Louny environs (Czechia) on July 7, 2019.
Collected by David Navrátil and photographed by Milan Lovětínský
[✮]
Linné C.:
Fauna Svecica sistens Animalia Sueciæ Regni : Mammalia, Aves, Amphibia, Pisces, Insecta, Vermes. Distributa per Classes & Ordines, Genera & Species, cum Differentiis Specierum, Synonymis Auctorum, Nominibus Incolarum, Locis Natalium Descriptionibus Insectorum.
Sumtu & Literis Direct, Laurentii Salvii, Stockholmiæ [1760]: i-xlvi + 578pp, 1761. [download]
[❖]
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 62-65], 1998 [ISBN: 80-238-2627-1]. [downloadDanilevsky M.L.:
Longicorn beetles (Coleoptera, Cerambycoidea) of Russia and adjacent countries. Part 1.
Higher School Consulting, Moscow, 550pp [pages 28-30], 2014. [download
Ergates faber faber ♂ [Photo © Milan Lovětínský]
Ergates faber faber ♀ [Photo © Milan Lovětínský]
| Subfamilia | Prioninae Latreille, 1802 |
| Tribus | Ergatini Fairmaire, 1864 |
| Genus | Ergates Audinet-Serville, 1832 |
| Species | Ergates faber (Linnaeus, 1761) |
| Subspecies | Ergates faber faber (Linnaeus, 1761) |