Xylotrechus hircus (Gebler, 1825)

Karpinski, Lech, Szczepanski, Wojciech T., Boldgiv, Bazartseren & Walczak, Marcin, 2018, New data on the longhorn beetles of Mongolia with particular emphasis on the genus Eodorcadion Breuning, 1947 (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae), ZooKeys 739, pp. 107-150 : 115

Xylotrechus hircus (Gebler, 1825) Fig. 2B, C

Material examined.

Selenge Aimag : 50 km NE of Zuunkharaa (49°05'N, 107°17'E), 930 m a.s.l., 02 VIII 2015 (24 III 2016, ex cult), 1♂, from Betula platyphylla , leg. MW; (09 III 2016, ex cult), 1♀, from Betula platyphylla , leg. WTS .

Remarks.

Xylotrechus hircus occurs exclusively in Northern Asia from Altai to Japan ( Cherepanov 1990b, Danilevsky 2017a). The species is ecologically associated with birch, which is the only known host plant to date. The larvae initially live under the bark and then in the wood where they pupate after about two years of development. The imagines are usually active from June to July ( Cherepanov 1990b).

This is a rather infrequent taxon in Mongolia and is absent in most of the papers about this region. Recently, two specimens of this species were collected in the West Khentey region ( Müller et al. 2013).

One male (Fig. 2B ) and one female (Fig. 2C ) were reared from the top part of a broken trunk of the birch Betula platyphylla (approx. 10 cm in diameter) (Fig. 7E ) found in the light taiga habitat (Fig. 7F ). The same material was additionally inhabited by larvae of Aegomorphus obscurior (Pic, 1904), Saperda scalaris (Linnaeus, 1758) and Mesosa myops (Dalman, 1817).

Figures

Figure 2. Photos of longhorn beetles specimens collected during the expedition to Mongolia in 2015: A Clytus arietoides (female) B Xylotrechus hircus (male) C X. hircus (female) D Eodorcadion humerale impluviatum (male) E E. humerale impluviatum (female) F E. humerale impluviatum (male, Khentey Mountains) G E. humerale impluviatum (female, Khentey Mountains) H Eodorcadion carinatum involvens (male) I E. carinatum involvens (female).

Figure 7. Field photos of immature stages and habitats of typical Mongolian cerambycid species: A larches in forest steppe, the habitat of Lepturalia nigripes rufipennis B larva of L. nigripes in a birch stump C site in light taiga, the habitat of L. nigripes rufipennis and Agapanthia pilicornis pilicornis D site in forest steppe, the habitat of Clytus arietoides, Monochamus impluviatus impluviatus and M. sutor longulus E broken trunk of the birch in light taiga, the microhabitat of inter alia Xylotrechus hircus and Aegomorphus obscurior F birches in light taiga, the habitat of X. hircus, A. obscurior, Saperda scalaris hieroglyphica and Mesosa myops G larva of Xylotrechus pantherinus H larva of X. pantherinus deep in the wood of a standing willow trunk.