The musk beetle (''Aromia moschata'') is a

Eurasia Eurasia ( , ) is a continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. According to some geographers, Physical geography, physiographically, Eurasia is a single supercontinent. The concept of Europe and Asia as distinct continents d ...

n species of

longhorn beetle The longhorn beetles (Cerambycidae), also known as long-horned or longicorns (whose larvae are often referred to as roundheaded borers), are a large family of beetles, with over 35,000 species described. Most species are characterized by Antenn ...

belonging to the subfamily

Cerambycinae Cerambycinae is a subfamily of the longhorn beetle family (Cerambycidae). The subfamily has a world-wide distribution including: Asia, Europe and the Americas (with 430 species in 130 genera in the neotropical realm). Within the family, the only ...

, tribe

Callichromatini Callichromatini is a tribe of beetles in the subfamily Cerambycinae, which includes the following genera: Genera These 148 genera belong to the tribe Callichromatini: * '' Agaleptoides'' Lepesme, 1956 * '' Agaleptus'' Gahan, 1904 * '' Amblyonti ...

. Its name comes from the delicate musky smell it emits when menaced. The beetle has a shell with an iridescence tone that changes with the angle of view. It has a hard shell around the thorax with hard sharp spines.

Description

This beetle is characterised by long antennae (like all other cerambycids) and a somewhat coppery or greenish metallic tint. The typical form, characterised by a

pronotum The prothorax is the foremost of the three segments in the thorax of an insect, and bears the first pair of legs. Its principal sclerites (exoskeletal plates) are the pronotum (dorsal), the prosternum (ventral), and the propleuron (lateral) on e ...

with a metallic color, is widespread in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, except for most of Spain and Southern

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. In such regions, in North and East Africa, and in

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, the species is represented by some subspecies characterised by a more or less red

. The antennae are longer than the entire head and body length in male and as long as body in females. Nevertheless, the Oriental subspecies have usually shorter antennae. The musk beetle can be found in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

locally, for example at

Caldicot and Wentloog Levels The Caldicot and Wentloog Levels are two areas of low-lying estuarine alluvial wetland and intertidal mudflats adjoining the north bank of the Severn Estuary, either side of the River Usk estuary near Newport in south east Wales. They are als ...

—otherwise known as Gwent Levels

SSSI A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...

Biology

The adults are usually found on leaves, especially those of the

willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, of the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 350 species (plus numerous hybrids) of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions. Most species are known ...

trees, where the larva of this species lives. The secretion with the characteristic musky smell is produced in thoracic glands,and is expelled through openings located on the distal part of the

metasternum The metathorax is the posterior of the three segments in the thorax of an insect, and bears the third pair of legs. Its principal sclerites ( exoskeletal plates) are the metanotum (dorsal), the metasternum (ventral), and the metapleuron (lateral) ...

, near the hind legs articulation. The secretion was formerly supposed to contain salicylaldehyde or a salicylic ether, but there is now evidence that it consists instead mainly of four different

monoterpenes Monoterpenes are a class of terpenes that consist of two isoprene units and have the molecular formula C10H16. Monoterpenes may be linear (acyclic) or contain rings (monocyclic and bicyclic). Modified terpenes, such as those containing oxygen funct ...

, among which is rose oxide, one of the most important fragrances in perfumery.

Subspecies

Source:Genus ''Aromia''
/ref> * ''Aromia moschata ambrosiaca'' Steven & Sherman, 1809 * ''Aromia moschata cruenta'' Bogatschev, 1962 * ''Aromia moschata jankovskyi'' Danilevsky, 2007 * ''Aromia m. moschata'' (

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

1758 Events January–March * January 1 – Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus (Carl von Linné) publishes in Stockholm the first volume (''Animalia'') of the 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'', the starting point of modern zoologic ...

) * ''Aromia moschata orientalis'' Plavilstshikov, 1932 * ''Aromia moschata sumbarensis'' Danilevsky, 2007 * ''Aromia moschata vetusta'' Jankovsky, 1934

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Musk Beetle Cerambycinae Beetles of Europe Beetles described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus