Oedemera lurida

Oedemera lurida is a species of beetle belonging to the family Oedemeridae subfamily Oedemerinae.

Oedemera lurida
Oedemera cf. lurida
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Family: Oedemeridae
Genus: Oedemera
Species:
O. lurida
Binomial name
Oedemera lurida
(Marsham, 1802)

Description

Oedemera lurida has a length of about 5–7 millimetres (0.20–0.28 in). The body of these insects is metallic pale-green, gray-green or brownish. Males of this species do not have the thickened hindfemora of most males of the other Oedemera species. The elytra are narrow and covered with dense gray hairs. Antennae are eleven-segmented and finely pubescent.

This species belongs to a complex of three species, the Oedemera-lurida-complex, which are quite difficult to distinguish one from the other, as the separation relies on subtle characters. These beetles usually need to be dissected and examined under the microscope. However, Oedemera lurida is the smallest species, Oedemera virescens is the biggest one, while Oedemera monticola is in between.

Oedemera lurida on chamomile flower

Larvae develop in rotten wood or humus and feed on stems of herbaceous plants and on rotten wood, while adult beetles feed on pollen and nectar of a wide variety of flowers, especially of umbels, Taraxacum and Ranunculus flowers and hawthorns. They can mostly be encountered from April through July.

Distribution

These beetles are present in most of Europe, in North Africa and in the Near East.

Habitat

Oedemera lurida lives in forests and forest edges, clearings, meadows and fields.

References
  • Svihla, V. - 1999 - Revision of the subgenera Stenaxis and Oedemera s. str. of the genus Oedemera -Folia Heyrovskyana, supplementum 4: 1-117
  • Vazquez, X. A. - 2002 - European Fauna of Oedemeridae - Argania editio, Barcelona, 179 pp.


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