Purpuricenus desfontainii, a Mediterranean species occuring in North Africa, Near East, Turkey and Greece, has been described from Algeria as Cerambyx Desfontainii
by Johann Christian Fabricius in 1793 [❖]. The nominotypic subspecies, P. desfontainii desfontainii, occurs throughout the Maghreb from Morocco to Lybia and, as an isolated
population, in the isle of Crete (Greece). By entomologists and nature lovers much more often collected, photographed and generally known subspecies
Purpuricenus desfontainii inhumeralis is common in Greece, Turkey and the Middle East. Larvae of this remarkable beetle
develop in living branches and twigs of broadlead trees and shrubs (e.g. Quercus, Ceratonia, Pistacia, Ziziphus). Adults, active from May to June,
are diurnal and anthophilous [✳].
| Body length: | 12 - 23 mm |
| Life cycle: | 2 - 3 years |
| Adults in: | May - June |
| Host plant: | polyphagous in deciduous trees and shrubs (Quercus, Ceratonia, Pistacia, Ziziphus) |
| Distribution: | Crete (Greece), Algeria, Lybia, Morocco, Tunisia |
The depicted living beetles were collected on thistles in Tanafnit village
(N33°4′50″ W05°29′36″; 1040 m a.s.l., Khénifra province, Béni Mellal-Khénifra region, Morocco) on May 16, 2022.
Mounted specimens were collected in Assoul (اسول) village environs (N32°55′31″ W05°33′14″; 1200 m a.s.l., Khénifra province,
Béni Mellal-Khénifra region, Morocco) on May 13, 2023.
Collected by Petr Jelínek and David Navrátil
[❖]
Fabricius J.Ch.:
Entomologia systematica emendata et aucta. Secundum classes ordines, genera, species adjectis synonymis, locis, observationibus, descriptionibus.
Hafniae, C. G. Proft 1 (2): xx + 538pp, 1793.
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[✳]
Sama G., Ringenbach, J.-C. and Rejzek M.:
A preliminary survey of the Cerambycidae of Lybia (Coleoptera).
Bulletin de la Société Entomologique de France 110 (4/5): 439-454, 2005.
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