Icosium tomentosum Lucas, 1854
ssp. tomentosum Lucas, 1854

Subfamilia: CERAMBYCINAE  /  Tribus: ACHRYSONINI
Icosium tomentosum tomentosum
[Photo © David Navrátil, click on the picture for 4K resolution]

Icosium tomentosum is a circummediterranean species represented by two distinct subspecies: tomentosum Lucas, 1854 and atticum Ganglbauer, 1881. Atticum is mainly an East Mediterranean subspecies occurring in Turkey, Balcan Peninsula and reaching South France in the West. The nominotypical subspecies occurs in South-West Europe and Maghreb. Both subspecies develop in various Cupressaceae (Juniperus, Cupressus, Thuja, Callitrix, Tetraclinis, etc.). Larvae first feed under bark and later enter the wood of recently dead or moribund hosts. The adults, active from June to August, are nocturnal and frequently come to light [✳][✧].

Icosium tomentosum has been described from Oum Drou environs (Algeria) by Pierre Hippolyte Lucas in 1854 [❖].

Body length:8 - 15 mm
Life cycle:2 years
Adults in:June - August
Host plant:oligophagous in various Cupressaceae
Distribution:South-West Europe (Corsica, France, Italy, Sardinia, Spain) and North Africa (Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia)


The depicted beetles were reared from larvae collected in dying Juniperus oxycedrus in Tanafnit village (Khénifra province, Béni Mellal-Khénifra region, Morocco) on May 16, 2022.

Collected by Petr Jelínek


[✳]
Trócoli S.:
Actualización del catálogo de Longicornios de Marruecos / Actualisation du catalogue des Longicornes du Maroc (Parte III / Partie III : Cerambycidae : Cerambycinae).
Revue de l'Association Roussillonnaise d'Entomologie (R.A.R.E.) 28 (3): 143–185, 2019. [download pdf icon]

[✧]
Villiers A.:
Coléoptères Cérambycides de l'Afrique du Nord.
Faune de l'Empire Français, ORSC Paris, 5: 1-152 [page 75], 1946. [download pdf icon]

[❖]
Lucas P.H.:
Séance du 8 Février 1854. [Note au sujet d'un nouveau genre de la tribu des Cérambycins].
Bulletin de la Société Entomologique de France 3 (2): viii-ix, 1854. [download pdf icon]


Icosium tomentosum tomentosum
[Photo © Petr Jelínek]
Icosium tomentosum tomentosum
Icosium tomentosum tomentosum
Icosium tomentosum tomentosum
Icosium tomentosum tomentosum
Icosium tomentosum tomentosum
Icosium tomentosum tomentosum
Icosium tomentosum tomentosum
[Photo © Petr Jelínek]


 
SubfamiliaCerambycinae Latreille, 1802
TribusAchrysonini Lacordaire, 1869
GenusIcosium Lucas, 1854
SpeciesIcosium tomentosum Lucas, 1854
SpeciesIcosium tomentosum tomentosum Lucas, 1854