TYT.LThome / Insecta · vabzdžiai / Coleoptera · vabalai / Elateridae · spragšiai / Ampedus · kelmaspragšiai / Ampedus balteatus · juodgalvis kelmaspragšis

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Ampedus balteatus · juodgalvis kelmaspragšis

The species occurs in Northern and Central Europe up to the Alps and France, in the Carpathians, Caucasus and Siberia, especially in areas with old pine stands.

Approximately 1 cm long, the predominantly red elytra turning black around two thirds down their length. Adults mate early in the season and females oviposit in bark or among soft decaying wood, usually in conifers and especially pine, but also in broadleaf trees, especially birch and oak, but only when these occur in mixed woodland. The predatory larvae, which also consume decaying plant material, develop under loose bark on dead or dying trees and stumps or among soft decaying xylem and have also been found at the base of trunks among accumulated soil and wood fragments. Pupation occurs in the autumn.