Anthaxia nitidula

Figure 1: Brilliant blooms beetles. male

The Shining flower jewel beetle ( Anthaxia nitidula ) is a beetle in the family Buprestidae ( Buprestidae ). It is only about five to seven millimeters in length. The coloring is different as with many Anthaxiaarten in males and females. In the male, head, pronotum and elytra are all green or the elytra erzfarbig backwards. In females, the wing-coverts are green gold, mirror gold or purple head and pronotum, very blue-green. The body is parallel and flat ( Fig. 2).

Characteristics of the beetle

The head is much broader than long and pulled back up to the back edge of the large eyes in the pronotum. The eyes cover the sides of the head and on the forehead approached ( Fig. 3). The antennae are short, blunt serrated inside and elfgliedrig. The upper lip is bilobed. The upper jaws are strong, curved and pointed. On the inside they have a blunt tooth. The jaws are long probe, the end link fusiform and truncate. Also, the last member of the labial palpi is elongated and truncated. The end is not long and it is densely hairy.

The elytra are flat and uneven and cover seen from above, usually the abdomen. They are without stripes or rows of dots, but dots tight. In the anterior two- thirds of their lateral edges are parallel, the tip they constrict. The bent- side strips of the elytra ( Epipleuren ) are furrowed ( Epipleuralfalte ). This furrow goes out before the end elytra separately rounded.

The pronotum is almost rectangular, wider than long, strongly narrowed backwards and without color contrasting binding agent. It is a net-like or honeycomb- patterned sublime. In a broad central strip running parallel to the base while the elevations are stronger forms as extending in other directions grid lines so that transversely wrinkled or ribbed appear in this area of ​​the pronotum. The anterior margin of the pronotum is bulged in the center forward, which indented left and right backwards (well twice sinuate, Figure 1). The posterior margin of the pronotum is almost straight. In the side corners of the base, he is not eroded. The scutellum is small and triangular.

The Vorderhüfthöhlen in which the front legs are turned in, are open to the rear. The front hips are spherical and separated by a wide extension of the front chest. This projection terminates in a tip that bridges the chest and this means thereby seemingly divides ( Fig. 4). The rear hips are wide at the chest and back are hollowed back for the partial accommodation of the rear leg. The tarsi are all five-membered, imperforated the claws.

Occurrence

The beetles are quite prevalent in South and Central Europe and colonize North Africa, Asia Minor and the Caucasus, where they occur mainly in warmer regions. They inhabit forests and bushes.

Way of life

The larvae live under the bark of sloes and fruit trees. After a few years they pupate. From the doll slips of finished beetle. In Germany the Shining flower jewel beetle is under protection.

Nutrition

The diurnal animals flying around looking for food. They feed on wild rose petals, where often several small animals sit. Also on flowering shrubs and blooming yellow meadow flowers they are often found. They also eat wood.