''Anthaxia quadripunctata'', the Metallic wood-boring beetle, is a species of ''jewel beetles'' belonging to the family

Buprestidae Buprestidae is a family of beetles known as jewel beetles or metallic wood-boring beetles because of their glossy iridescent colors. Larvae of this family are known as flatheaded borers. The family is among the largest of the beetles, with some ...

, subfamily Buprestinae.

Subspecies

*''Anthaxia quadripunctata attavistica'' Obenberger, 1918 *''Anthaxia quadripunctata quadripunctata'' ( Linnaeus,

1758 Events January–March * January 1 – Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus (Carl von Linné) publishes in Stockholm the first volume (''Animalia'') of the 10th edition of Systema Naturae, 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'', the sta ...

)

Description

''Anthaxia quadripunctata'' can reach a length of . The basic color is black or dark brown with a copper shine. The elytra and pronotum are grainy. Pronotum is almost rectangular and usually shows a row of four small dimples (hence the Latin name ''quadripunctata'', meaning with four points). Adults fly from April to September feeding on pollen of several Asteraceae and prefer white and yellow flowers, where frequently many of them are mating. Larvae are polyphagous wood borers, living just under the bark of sick or dead coniferous trees. Main larval host plants are in genus ''

Picea A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' (), a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal (taiga) regions of the Earth. ''Picea'' is the sole genus in the subfami ...

'', '' Abies'', '' Juniperus'', '' Larix'' and '' Pinus''.

Distribution

This beetle is present in most of Europe, the eastern Palearctic realm, the Caucasus, Asia Minor, the

Near East The ''Near East''; he, המזרח הקרוב; arc, ܕܢܚܐ ܩܪܒ; fa, خاور نزدیک, Xāvar-e nazdik; tr, Yakın Doğu is a geographical term which roughly encompasses a transcontinental region in Western Asia, that was once the hist ...

, and North Africa.

Habitat

They live in mountain areas with coniferous trees, especially in the forest edges.

References

Biolib

Fauna Europaea

External links

Anthaxia.eu
Buprestidae Beetles of Europe Beetles described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Buprestidae-stub