Callistus lunatus

Mondfleck beetles ( Callistus lunatus )

The Mondfleck beetles or even Mondfleck ( Callistus lunatus ) is a beetle of the family of ground beetles ( Carabidae ). He is the only species of the genus Callistus in Europe.

Features

The beetles reach a body length of 4.2 to 7 millimeters and boasts a striking and unmistakable body coloration. The head is greenish- blue in color and finely punctured, the pronotum is uniform in color orange and the elytra are yellow-orange to orange. On the elytra are three dominant black spot pairs. The former pair is adjacent to the pronotum approach and is the smallest, the last pair is united to a broad transverse fascia. Between this and the middle spot pair, the elytra are colored yellow side. The antennae are dark, but the first two terms are orange. The legs are dark, but the rails ( tibiae ) are also orange. The body of the animal is hairy tightly.

Occurrence and life

The diurnal and nocturnal animals come from the southern and south-eastern Central Europe, east front to Iran. They are extremely thermophilic and colonize dry sand and limestone soils, dry grasslands, quarries and Gentiles. In the Balkans and Caucasus, but they are also found on muddy shores. You are missing otherwise in the mountains. They are found under rocks or among moss. Occasionally you meet them along with Bombardier beetles of the genus Brachinus.