Lobonyx aeneus

Lobonyx aeneus feeding on Cistus monspeliensis.
This species was previously classified under the subfamily Dasytinae of the Melyridae, but is now transferred to the family Prionoceridae (previously Prionocerinae in Melyridae). Obviously these are very close lookalikes for some of the Dasytinae, especially in the genus Psilothrix.

comments (7)

Ferdy Christant

Lion

Really beautiful shot, the core of the flower is like a sun. Posted 9 years ago
1. RMFelix
  
  Lion
  
  Indeed* Thank you so much! cheers* Posted 9 years ago

Pudding4brains

Lion

Hi RM, just to let you know - I'm really puzzled by this one(!) First off, I was "alarmed" by the relatively long antennae and very broad, short pronotum (but that might be due to perspective _maybe_ ???). Then, looking closer, the hairs and structure of the elytra seem to be _much_ more typical of aureola than viridicoerulea(!) But the punctation on the pronotum might be better for viridicoerulea. As for the pygidium ... I can't decide what I'm seeing there ... possibly it's dirty? But all that still doesn't seem to make the shape of pronotum and antennae fit the bill. So I'm considering the possibility of maybe even a new arrival?
Where in Portugal was this?
Do you have more images? More dorsally on the pronotum (even out of focus) might help, but also a tad bigger and sharp (any angle) to look at he punctuation. But above all, more perspectives or large crops of the pygidium sticking out from behind....
I don't have enough info on the North African species readily available, but it might be a worthwhile path investigating, so I'll see what I can find. Meantime, if you see one like this again .... you know what to do :o)

Edit: Unfortunately I don't have many photos of Psylothrix myself, but I've uploaded a female viridicoerulea from France here:
Note the difference in pubescens on the elytra(!) Females generally have the antennae a tad shorter, but the ones on your image are really extremely long even for a male I would think :-/ Posted 8 years ago, modified 8 years ago
1. RMFelix
  
  Lion
  
  Yep, I agree with the antennae and pubescens.
  I believe that Psilothrix viridicoerulea and Psilothrix illustris are the only described for portugal:
  http://naturdata.com/taxa/Animalia/Arthropoda/Insecta/Coleoptera/Dasytidae/Psilothrix
  I really don't have any idea of Psilothrix aureola for the portuguese territory.
  Meanwhile I've changed the species name to be confirmed.
  Thanks so much!
  Happy new year! :)
  Posted 8 years ago, modified 8 years ago
2. 1. Pudding4brains
    
    Lion
    
    Howdy, I'm thinking it might well be Lobonyx aeneus :o)
    Everything seems to fit: Pubescens, shape of pronotum, length of antennae, pygidium ... Fauna Europaea doesn't list the species for Portugal, but it seems that the site you linked does:
    http://naturdata.com/taxa/Animalia/Arthropoda/Insecta/Coleoptera/Prionoceridae/Lobonyx
    I think the genus Lobonyx was recently transferred from Dasyti(n|d)ae to Prionoceridae - it is not in my documentation for Dasytidae/Melyridae, so I totally missed the possibility of this species :o| Posted 8 years ago
  2. 1. RMFelix
      
      Lion
      
      Outstanding! Thanks a lot for correction and associated info, my friend! Cheers* Posted 8 years ago
    2. 1. Pudding4brains
        
        Lion
        
        Definitely an eye-opener for me too! Very good to know that this one can be confused so easily with Sth European Psilothrix. Simply wasn't on my radar before :-/ Posted 8 years ago

The Lobonyx aeneus

Prionoceridae is a small family of beetles, in the suborder Polyphaga. The form a group within the cleroid beetles and were formerly treated as a subfamily Prionocerinae within the family Melyridae. Very little is known of their life history but most species are pollen feeders as adults and occur in large numbers during spring or the host flowering season. Larvae are predatory or feed on decomposing wood.

Info 1 0

Similar species: Beetles

Species identified by RMFelix