Subfamilia: LAMIINAE / Tribus: PHYTOECIINI
[Photo © David Navrátil]
Phytoecia (Musaria) argus is broadly distribudted European species, but in most areas of its occurence belongs among rare species typical for karstic landscapes of a steppe/pastures character.
Body length: 9 - 21 mm Life cycle: 1 year Adults in: April - June Host plant: Apiaceae - Seseli / Trinia glauca Distribution: Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Russia: Central and South European Territory, Czechia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Moldavia, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine
The depicted specimens marked by letter S were collected on Seseli in Karlobag environs (804 m a.s.l., Velebit Mts., Licko-senjska župa, Croatia) on May 24, 2014. Beetles marked by letter T were collected on Trinia glauca in karst plateau in Buzet environs (Istria, Croatia) on May 22-23, 2010. The difference in the coloration of adults is probably due to another host plant. In the case of T-specimens here is also possibility of crossbreeding with sister species, Phytoecia (Musaria) cephalotes Küster, 1846, which was collected together with P. argus on the same locality..Collected by David Navrátil
[Photo © David Navrátil]
Subfamilia: Lamiinae Latreille, 1825
Tribus: Phytoeciini Mulsant, 1839
Genus: Phytoecia Dejean, 1835
Subgenus: Musaria J. Thomson, 1864
Species: Phytoecia (Musaria) argus (Frölich, 1793)