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Middle-east flower scarab (Oxythyrea cinctella)  Bulgaria,Geotagged,Likana Protected Site,Oxythyrea cinctella Click/tap to enlarge PromotedSpecies introCountry intro

Middle-east flower scarab (Oxythyrea cinctella)

- No description given -

    comments (7)

  1. The species is very similar to the related Oxythyrea funesta, but is smaller (7-11 mm). The beetle is flat, rectangular-shaped, black in colour, without metallic shine. The surface of the body is sparsely covered with hairs. The most apparent difference from O. funesta is that in O. cinctella the edges of the thorax have a more or less continous whitish margin. The elytrae are covered with whitish spots.
    Host plants: The adult beetle causes damage to flowers of many orchard trees, like pear, cherry, European chestnut and other spring-blossoming fruit trees and ornamental plants (e.g. roses or peony). The beetle can feed also on many flowering weeds, i.e. different species of Compositae and Cruciferae. The beetle chews the petals, staminae and stigmae thus rendering the flower infertile. It can damage not only flowers in full blossom, but also in the bud stage. The grub (larva) lives in the soil and feeds on rotting plant material.
    Posted 12 years ago, modified 12 years ago
    1. Thanks for the info! Very interesting and I photographed these beetles in Spain lately but did not know the name yet. Mine where without the white thorax edges so are probably Oxythyrea funesta. Posted 12 years ago
      1. The photo I made:
        Oxythyrea funesta beetle  Geotagged,Oxythyrea funesta,Spain
        Posted 12 years ago
      2. O. funesta is spread throughout Europe so it should be the one found in Spain.
        I found an identification key in German. You would probably understand it better than me. http://www.coleo-net.de/coleo/texte/oxythyrea.htm
        Posted 12 years ago
    2. Beautiful, like all Scarab beetles. I created the species entry manually, using your description. Promoted. Posted 12 years ago
      1. Thanks! Posted 12 years ago
  2. The latest update on the distribution of O. cinctella http://www.munisentzool.org/yayin/vol8/issue2/vol8issue2-3671228.pdf Posted 12 years ago

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The species is very similar to the related Oxythyrea funesta, but is smaller (7-11 mm). The beetle is flat, rectangular-shaped, black in colour, without metallic shine. The surface of the body is sparsely covered with hairs. The most apparent difference from O. funesta is that in O. cinctella the edges of the thorax have a more or less continous whitish margin. The elytrae are covered with whitish spots.

Similar species: Beetles
Species identified by Ferdy Christant
View WildFlower's profile

By WildFlower

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Uploaded Jul 3, 2013. Captured May 25, 2013 11:10 in 598, Odrintsi, Bulgaria.
  • SZ-14
  • f/4.4
  • 10/8000s
  • ISO80
  • 11.9mm