''Pseudovadonia livida'', the fairy-ring longhorn beetle, is a

beetle Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...

species of ''flower longhorns'' belonging to the family

Cerambycidae The longhorn beetles (Cerambycidae), also known as long-horned or longicorns, are a large family of beetles, with over 35,000 species described. Most species are characterized by extremely long antennae, which are often as long as or longer than ...

, subfamily

Lepturinae Lepturinae, the lepturine beetles, is a subfamily of the longhorn beetle family (Cerambycidae), containing about 150 genera worldwide. This lineage is most diverse in the Northern Hemisphere. Until recently the subfamily Necydalinae was includ ...

Subspecies

Subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

include: *''Pseudovadonia livida bicarinata'' (Arnold, 1869) *''Pseudovadonia livida desbrochersi'' (Pic, 1891) *''Pseudovadonia livida hatayensis'' Özdikmen, 2015 *''Pseudovadonia livida livida'' (Fabricius, 1776) *''Pseudovadonia livida pecta'' (J. Daniel & K. Daniel, 1891) *''Pseudovadonia livida setosa'' Danilevsky, 2013

Distribution

This beetle is widespread in most of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, in the eastern

Palearctic realm The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Sibe ...

, and in 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 ...

(Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, China, Czech Republic (Bohemia, Moravia), Estonia, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Iran, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Moldova, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Sicily, Slovakia, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom).Fauna europaea
/ref>

Habitat

This species mainly inhabits pine forests, but they are also present in deciduous trees (''

Quercus An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably '' ...

'' and ''

Castanea The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The name also refers to the edible nut (fruit), nuts they produce. Th ...

'' species).

Description

The adults of ''Pseudovadonia livida'' grow up to . These small beetles are robust and have a broad head with large eyes, dense puncturation and erect pubescence. The antennae are black and robust, slightly shorter than the body. Pronotum is quadrate and shiny black, with shallow puncturation on the surface. Also the scutellum is shining black. Elytra are reddish-brown with darker suture. Shoulders are much wider than the base of the pronotum. They are covered with fine semi-erect golden hair.Cerambyx
/ref>
/ref>

Biology

Adults can be encountered from May through September, completing their

life cycle Life cycle, life-cycle, or lifecycle may refer to: Science and academia *Biological life cycle, the sequence of life stages that an organism undergoes from birth to reproduction ending with the production of the offspring *Life-cycle hypothesis, ...

in two years. They are very common flower-visitors, especially

Apiaceae Apiaceae or Umbelliferae is a family of mostly aromatic flowering plants named after the type genus ''Apium'' and commonly known as the celery, carrot or parsley family, or simply as umbellifers. It is the 16th-largest family of flowering plants ...

species, feeding on pollen and the nectar. Larvae do not develop in dead wood, as usual in many species of

, but in humus infested by fungus ''

Marasmius oreades ''Marasmius oreades'', also known as the fairy ring mushroom or fairy ring champignon, is a mushroom native to North America and Europe. Its common names can cause some confusion, as many other mushrooms grow in fairy rings, such as the edible ' ...

'', feeding on

mycelium Mycelium (plural mycelia) is a root-like structure of a fungus consisting of a mass of branching, thread-like hyphae. Fungal colonies composed of mycelium are found in and on soil and many other substrate (biology), substrates. A typical single ...

Gallery

File:Cerambycidae - Pseudovadonia livida.JPG, Mating pair File:Cerambycidae - Pseudovadonia livida-000.JPG, In flight File:Pseudovadonia livida Fabricius, 1776 (3806963957).jpg, Mounted specimen File:Pseudovadonia livida in copula.ogv, Clip

References

*Ehnström, B. og Holmer, M. 2007. Nationalnyckeln till Sveriges flora och fauna. Skalbaggar: Långhorningar. Coleoptera: Cerambycidae. ArtDatabanken SLU, Uppsala. 298 sider.

External links

Coleoptera and Coleopterologists
Lepturinae Beetles of Europe Beetles described in 1776 Taxa named by Johan Christian Fabricius {{Lepturinae-stub