| Lagria hirta | |
|---|---|
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| Lagria hirta, male. Dorsal view | |
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| lateral view | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Coleoptera |
| Family: | Tenebrionidae |
| Genus: | Lagria |
| Species: | L. hirta |
| Binomial name | |
| Lagria hirta | |
| Synonyms | |
List
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Lagria hirta is a species of beetle in the family Tenebrionidae. [1]
The species name hirta comes from the Latin hirtus meaning rough hair or rough wool, referring to the coarse, fuzzy appearance of the beetle.
This species is present in Europe, in North Africa (Algeria, Morocco), in Russia (Western and Eastern Siberia), in Israel, Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Paraguay, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. [2]
L. hirta prefers areas with sandy soils. It can be found in open woods, deciduous forests, forest clearings, forest edges, grasslands, and wet meadows, but also in dry valleys and wet areas. [3] [4]
Lagria hirta can reach a length of 7–8 millimetres (0.28–0.31 in). These beetles have a soft and elongated body and a head and thorax brown or shiny black. The relatively elongated elytra are yellowish-brown and covered by dense fine light yellowish-brown hairs. The rest of the body is also hairy, but they are less clearly visible. L. hirta's antennae, underside of body and legs are black. This species has eyes, large and round. Antennae are composed of eleven segments. [3]
The elytra of the females are more extended backward than in the males and the female's abdomen looks from above wider than in the males. The male, in addition to its slimmer body, is distinguished from the females by their larger eyes and by the length of the last segment of the antennae, which is nearly twice the corresponding segment in the female. [4] The hind wings are transparent.
The fully formed beetles can be seen from late May to September. [3] The adult beetles feed on nectar and pollen. [3] Females lay eggs in the soil, where they hatch after about eight days. The larvae live in the humus where they feed on decaying vegetables. After having overwintered, larvae pupate in early summer of the next year and a new generation of beetles will then develop.
Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera, in the superorder Holometabola. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 described species, is the largest of all orders, constituting almost 40% of described insects and 25% of all known animal species; new species are discovered frequently, with estimates suggesting that there are between 0.9 and 2.1 million total species. Found in almost every habitat except the sea and the polar regions, they interact with their ecosystems in several ways: beetles often feed on plants and fungi, break down animal and plant debris, and eat other invertebrates. Some species are serious agricultural pests, such as the Colorado potato beetle, while others such as Coccinellidae eat aphids, scale insects, thrips, and other plant-sucking insects that damage crops. Some others also have unusual characteristics, such as fireflies, which use a light-emitting organ for mating and communication purposes.
Darkling beetle is the common name for members of the beetle family Tenebrionidae, comprising over 20,000 species in a cosmopolitan distribution.
Histeridae is a family of beetles commonly known as clown beetles or hister beetles. This very diverse group of beetles contains 3,900 species found worldwide. They can be easily identified by their shortened elytra that leaves two of the seven tergites exposed, and their geniculate (elbowed) antennae with clubbed ends. These predatory feeders are most active at night and will fake death if they feel threatened. This family of beetles will occupy almost any kind of niche throughout the world. Hister beetles have proved useful during forensic investigations to help in time of death estimation. Also, certain species are used in the control of livestock pests that infest dung and to control houseflies. Because they are predacious and will even eat other hister beetles, they must be isolated when collected.
Melolonthinae is a subfamily of the scarab beetles. It is a very diverse group; distributed over most of the world, it contains over 11,000 species in over 750 genera. Some authors include the scarab subfamilies Euchirinae and Pachypodinae as tribes in the Melolonthinae.
Oiceoptoma noveboracense is a member of the family Silphidae, or carrion beetles, which feed on decaying organic matter such as dead animals. Its common name is the margined carrion beetle, from the orange-red margins on the pronotum, which are helpful when identifying this species. The larva is typically light brown to red and also has vertical ridges on its thorax like the adult. This diurnal beetle can be found mainly in the spring into the fall, and it has a strong preference towards a deciduous forest habitat. The primary forensic importance of this beetle is its ability to use the succession of insect fauna to provide confirmation of postmortem intervals.
Callipogon relictus is a species of longhorn beetle which is mostly found in Korea, but also in China and southern part of Russian Far East. It inhabits mixed and deciduous forests. The population of Callipogon relictus is decreasing due to deforestation and uncontrolled collection, and therefore the species are listed in the Russian Red Book.
Brachypsectra fulva is a species of beetle in the Brachypsectridae family commonly known as the Texas beetle.
Chloromyia formosa is a species of soldier flies belonging to the family Stratiomyidae. Another name for it is Broad centurion.
Thylodrias is a monotypic genus of beetles in the family Dermestidae containing the single species Thylodrias contractus, known commonly as the odd beetle and tissue paper beetle. It is native to Asia and is a widespread introduced species in North America. It can be a pest at times.
Apoderus coryli, the hazel-leaf roller weevil, is a species of leaf-rolling beetles belonging to the family Attelabidae subfamily Attelabinae. Because of the trunk-like elongated head, it is often mistakenly attributed to the weevil family Curculionidae.
Tribolium is a genus of flour beetles in the family Tenebrionidae. They are known by various common names including flour beetles, flour weevils, red weevils and bran bugs.
Athous bicolor is a species of click beetle.
Anisodactylus binotatus is a species of ground beetle native to Europe. It was discovered as being introduced to Canterbury, New Zealand in 1938. Anisodactylus binotatus is a species of Carabidae, also known as the ground beetle family. Although this species of beetle has no official recorded common names, literature from England refers to it as the common shortspur beetle.
Cerambyx welensii is a species of beetle in the family Cerambycidae.
Grammoptera ruficornis is a species of beetle in family Cerambycidae.
Tillus elongatus is a species of beetle in the family Cleridae. It is found in the Palearctic. The “Holz” in the German common name Holzbuntkäfer indicates that these checkered beetles are found in wood. Although Tillus elongatus can reach up to a size of 1 cm long, the beetle is rarely seen by humans, as it primarily resides hidden in the wood of trees. The colouration of the males differs from that of the females.
Rhynchodes ursus, also known as the elephant weevil, is a weevil in the Curculionidae family. It is endemic to New Zealand. It is a wood-boring weevil found throughout New Zealand.
Lagriinae is a subfamily of long-jointed beetles in the family Tenebrionidae. There are more than 270 genera in Lagriinae, grouped into 11 tribes.
Oemona hirta, the lemon tree borer, also known as the whistling beetle or the singing beetle, is a longhorn beetle endemic to New Zealand. Its larvae are generalist feeders, boring into the wood of a wide variety of trees, native and introduced. When citrus orchards were first established in New Zealand, this beetle started inflicting serious damage, and so gained the name "lemon tree borer". Four species within the genus Oemona have been identified, suggesting that more species could be found. When disturbed by predators or humans, the adult beetle stridulates creating a "rasp" or "squeak" sound by rubbing its thorax and head together against an area of thin ridges. Māori would eat a liquid called "pia manuka", which was produced by manuka trees when its wood was damaged by the larvae. When Captain Cook first arrived in NZ, his naturalists, Banks and Solander, collected a lemon tree borer in their first collection between 1769 and 1771. This oldest collected specimen can be found in the British Museum. A few years after the first collection, the species would be first described by the Danish naturalist Fabricius in 1775.
Adoretus versutus, commonly known as rose beetle, is a species of shining leaf chafer found in Afro-Oriental tropics.
