Agapanthia (Homoblephara) maculicornis maculicornis (Gyllenhal, 1817)

Gradinarov, Denis & Petrova, Yana, 2023, New records of Agapanthia maculicornis maculicornis (Gyllenhal, 1817) (Cerambycidae: Lamiinae) in SE Bulgaria, ZooNotes 2023 (227), pp. 1-4 : 2

Agapanthia (Homoblephara) maculicornis maculicornis (Gyllenhal, 1817)

( Fig. 1 )

New records:

Sakar Mts: N of Sakartsi Vill. , 42°03'41.8"N, 26°17'34.0"E, 365 m a.s.l., roadside verges and meadows, 25.v.2019, 1 ♂, 1 ♀, Y. Petrova & D. Gradinarov leg. ; S of Ustrem Vill. , the road to Radovets Vill., 42°00'43.2"N, 26°27'55.8"E, 150 m a.s.l., xerothermic vegetation, hillside with Paliurus spina-christi Mill. , 05.v.2021, 1 ♂, 1 ♀, on stem of Chondrilla juncea L., D. Gradinarov leg. ; SE of Glavan Vill. , 42°01'08.6"N, 26°09'46.9"E, 646 m a.s.l., dry roadside meadows next to an oak forest, 24.v.2023, 2 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀, on Tragopogon sp. ( Fig. 2B ), D. Gradinarov & Y. Petrova leg.

Strandzha Mts: 3 km SW of Sredets , 42°18'35.5"N, 27°09'29.6"E, 190 m a.s.l., roadside meadows with Tragopogon sp. next to an oak forest, 23.v.2023, 2 ♂♂ (one male on Rumex sp. ), Y. Petrova leg. ; 2 km NW of Bistrets Vill. , 42°19'22.4"N 26°59'06.2"E, 206 m a.s.l., 25.v.2023, on stem of Cichorium intybus L., 1 ♂, D. Gradinarov & Y. Petrova leg. ; NW of Prohod Vill. , roadside vegetation at the foot of a xerothermic hill, 42°19'58.7"N, 27°03'23.9"E, 49 m a.s.l., 25.v.2023, 1 ♂, 2 ♀♀, D. Gradinarov & Y. Petrova leg.

Black Sea Coast: Burgas lowland, 3 km NE of Konstantinovo Vill., near Mandrensko Ezero Lake , 42°25'01.8"N, 27°20'46.6"E, 17 m a.s.l., roadside vegetation, 23.v.2023, 1 ♀, Y. Petrova leg.

Tundzha River Valley: near Elhovo, next to the park zone, 42°10'29.7"N, 26°33'57.4"E, 107 m a.s.l., ruderal vegetation, 23.v.2023, 2 ♀♀, on stems and leaves of Tragopogon sp. ( Fig. 2A ), D. Gradinarov leg.

The available data on the host plants of A. maculicornis in the literature are contradictory. The first reported host plant of the species is Helianthus annuus L. in Ukraine ( Pjatakowa 1930), and this record has been repeated by later authors (e.g., Koch 1992, Bense 1995, Sláma 1998). Sláma (1998) also reports finding the species on Cirsium sp. in [North?] Macedonia. Summarizing information on host plants of A. maculicornis, Sama (2002) listed Campanula glomerata L. (for Hungary), Dianthus superbus L. (for Siberia) and Helianthemum [sic!] (for Ukraine), omitting both Helianthus annuus and Cirsium . Pesarini & Sabbadini (2007) reports finding of A. maculicornis on Chondrilla juncea in Greece. According to Danilevskaya et al. (2009), all earlier reports of host plants of the species are rather doubtful. As „true“ host plants of A. maculicornis the latter authors consider plants from the genera Tragopogon (South Russia) and Scorzonera (NE Kazakhstan). On Tragopogon the species has been found also in Caucasus ( Miroshnikov 2010) and in Greece ( Hoskovec et al. 2023), as well as in Bulgaria in earlier studies ( Georgiev et al. 2015).

Within the present study we have found A. maculicornis on Tragopogon sp. ( Fig. 2 ), Chondrilla juncea and Cichorium intybus . All these plants, as well as the plant genus Scorzonera , regarded as a host plant of A. maculicornis by Danilevskaya et al. (2009), belong to the tribe Cichorieae ( Asteraceae : Cichorioideae ) ( Kilian et al. 2009). Thus, plants of the tribe Cichorieae appear to be the host plants of A. maculicornis . The finding of one male specimen on Rumex sp. ( Polygonaceae ) near Sredets during our study is rather accidental.

The species A. maculicornis appears to be quite common in SE Bulgaria, as within three days (from 23 to 25 May 2023) we found it in six relatively remote localities, without any special search. This can be explained by the wide distribution of suitable habitats, in particular xerothermic herbaceous communities, dry hills, and xerothermic oak forests in the study region.

Figures

Fig. 1. Agapanthia maculicornis maculicornis, SE of Glavan Vill., 24.v.2023. A – male; B – apex of penis, the same specimen; C – parameres, the same specimen; D – female.

Fig. 2. Agapanthia maculicornis maculicornis on Tragopogon sp. A – near Elhovo, 23.v.2023; B – SE of Glavan Vill., 24.v.2023.