''Ptosima undecimmaculata'', the Splendour beetle, is a species of beetles in the family

Buprestidae Buprestidae is a family of beetles known as jewel beetles or metallic wood-boring beetles because of their glossy iridescent colors. Larvae of this family are known as flatheaded borers. The family is among the largest of the beetles, with some ...

Subspecies and varietas

* ''Ptosima undecimmaculata undecimmaculata'' Herbst, 1784 * ''Ptosima undecimmaculata metallescens'' Bílý, 1982 * ''Ptosima undecimmaculata var. sexmaculata'' Herbst

Description

''Ptosima undecimmaculata'' can reach a length of about . The body is cylindrical and the head is much broader than long and narrower than the pronotum. The Latin species name ''undecimmaculata'' indicates that the species should have eleven spots (lat. Undecimo = eleven, lat. Maculatus = stained). Normally the number of spots is different than eleven. This is due to the variety of spots in number, arrangement and form. Pronotum is black, with longitudinal stripes of rugosity. Elytra are black with three pairs of lateral, yellowish-orange or reddish transverse markings, frequently with preapical maculae. Frons and pronotal disc occasionally may have maculae.

Biology

Larvae develop for 2–3 years in wood of dead trees and bushes and in living branches of Prunus. Adults emerge in May–June.

Distribution

This widespread species is present in most of Europe, in the Near East and in North Africa. Fauna europaea
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Gallery

File:Ptosima flavoguttata bl1.JPG, ''Ptosima undecimmaculata'' File:Ptosima undecimmaculata side.JPG, Lateral view File: Kigyospuszta 003.JPG, Dorsal view

Bibliography

* Carl Gustav Calwer und Gustav Jäger (Herausgeber): C. G. Calwer's Käferbuch. K. Thienemanns, Stuttgart 1876, 3. Auflage * H. Freude, K. W. Harde, G. A. Lohse: Die Käfer Mitteleuropas, Bd. 6. Spektrum Akademischer Verlag in Elsevier, München 1966, * H.Mühle, P.Brandl, M. Niehuis: Catalogus Faunae Graeciae; Coleoptera:Buprestidae Printed in Germany by Georg Rößle Augsburg 2000 * S. Bily, O.Brodsky "Taxonomical, biological and faunistical notes on Buprestidae and Cleridae from East Mediterranean" Türk.Bit.Kor.Derg (1982) 6: 185-194

References

Buprestidae {{Buprestidae-stub