Agapanthia (Epoptes) villosoviridescens (De Geer, 1775)

Subfamilia: LAMIINAE  /  Tribus: AGAPANTHIINI
Agapanthia villosoviridescens
[Photo © M.Hoskovec]

In Europe a very common species developing in a variety of herbaceous plants (eg. Carduus, Urtica, Angelica, Chaerophyllum, Artemisia, Salvia, Aconitum). Like the other species of Agapanthia genus, the larvae of this beetle develop in the above-ground plant tissues (stalks). They cut off the plant stalk before pupation, create the pupal cells near ground level, and the adults leave the stalks via a newly created exit hole in the side of the remaining stalk.

Body length:10 - 22 mm
Life cycle:1 year
Adults in:May - August
Host plant:polyphagous in herbaceous plants
Distribution:Europe, Russia, Caucasus, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Near East


The depicted beetle was collected on Urtica in Zbečno (Central Bohemia).

Collected by M.Hoskovec


Agapanthia villosoviridescens
[Photo © M.Hoskovec]

Subfamilia: Lamiinae Latreille, 1825
Tribus: Agapanthiini Mulsant, 1839
Genus: Agapanthia Audinet-Serville, 1835
Subgenus: Epoptes Gistl, 1857
Species: Agapanthia (Epoptes) villosoviridescens (De Geer, 1775)