TYT.LThome / Insecta · vabzdžiai / Coleoptera · vabalai / Cetoniidae · auksavabaliai / Protaetia cuprea · dėmėtasis auksavabalis

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Protaetia cuprea · dėmėtasis auksavabalis

Papitęs Europoje. Dažniausia Protaetia genties rūšis Lietuvoje. Vabalas dažniausiai tamsiai žalias, kiek metališkai violetinio arba rudo atspalvio. Kūno apačia žalsvai ar rausvai violetinė, apaugusi šviesiais plaukeliais. Antsparniuose akivaizdžios balsvos arba rudos netaisyklingos dėmelės, kurios priešnugarėlėje yra labai mažos arba jų nėra.

Auksavabalio lervos vystosi trūnijančioje medienoje ir skruzdėlynų, suneštų rudųjų miško skrudėlių Formica rufa bei Camponotus herculeanus, pakraščiuose. Auksavabalio patelės padeda kiaušinėlius šalia skruzdėlynų. Lervos vystosi 2 metus. Vabalai skraido saulėtomis dienomis birželio–rugpjūčio mėn. Juos traukia žolinių, ypač skėtinių, augalų ir krūmų žiedai.

Most of the text below is from now defunct site www.ukbeetles.co.uk, where it was published under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

This widespread Western Palaearctic species occurs throughout Europe and extends through Asia Minor and Russia as far as the Pacific, also in Mongolia, and northern China. It is represented in many regions by distinct subspecies, about twenty in Europe alone. The nominate subspecies occurs in Southern Europe; Switzerland, Italy, Corsica and Sardinia, while subspecies metallica (Herbst, 1782) occurs throughout the region, with the exception of the Iberian Peninsula, and extends north to the UK and the far north of Fennoscandia. Many subspecies are sympatric and most European countries have a varied selection but several are very restricted e.g. P. c. olivacea (Mulsant, 1842) is endemic to France, P. c. levantina (Schatzmayr. 1938) is endemic to one of the Northern Aegean Islands and P. c. brancoi (Baraud, 1992) occurs only on the Iberian Peninsula. Ssp. metallica is generally common throughout Europe and often abundant in southern and central regions, it occurs from lowlands to the upper limit of the tree-line in mountain areas and in some regions it is often a pest of commercially-grown fruit and roses.

The ecological adaptability of Protaetia cuprea is as remarkable as its geographical spread. This species thrives across various environments, from dense forests to the more open and arid steppe regions. Such adaptability extends to a wide altitude range, with P. cuprea populations established from sea-level shorelines to the more challenging conditions at elevations up to 2000 meters. This altitude range encompasses various environmental conditions, highlighting the species' capacity to adapt and thrive in varying climatic and geographical landscapes.

Adults are active from May until August, they are diurnal and active in bright sun when they visit flowers of a range of woody and herbaceous plants to feed on pollen and nectar, they also feed on foliage and fruits and are strongly attracted to sap runs. Mating occurs after a period of feeding and continues through the season, usually on flowers, and females oviposit among suitable host material. Larvae are detritivores, they develop in the lower layers of active nests of the Formica rufa L., Camponotus herculeanus (Linnaeus, 178)), they sometimes occur among woody debris in abandoned nests and sometimes, though rarely, among decaying deciduous leaf litter. Larvae overwinter and it is likely that they normally develop over two years, pupating in the spring to produce new-generation adults soon after, but adults occasionally occur throughout the year and so the situation is more complex and probably depends on the season and local factors such as food supply. Adults are usually observed in flight or on flowers, and they can be very common where they occur; in Southern and Eastern Europe they sometimes occur in huge numbers in orchards and so rather inevitably, pheromone traps and soil insecticides are available that very efficiently attract and kill them in large numbers before the fruit begins to grow.

16-22 mm. European specimens vary from black to bright metallic violet or blue and many forms are bicoloured with the forebody contrasting with the elytra. Distinguished from our other chafers, except for Cetonia, by the glabrous body, large scutellum and elevated mesepimera which are visible from above. From Cetonia it may be distinguished by the smoothly rounded elytral apex and the form of the mesosternal process which is coarsely punctured and flat or slightly sinuate across the apex, in Cetonia the elytral apex is sinuate and the mesosternal process is rounded apically and sparsely and very finely rounded.