Calosoma sycophanta (Linné, 1758)

Assmann, Thorsten, Boutaud, Estève, Buse, Jörn, Drees, Claudia, Friedman, Ariel-Leib-Leonid, Hetzel, Andreas, Orbach, Eylon, Renan, Ittai, Reuter, Christoph & Wrase, David W., 2020, The Caterpillar Hunter Beetles Calosoma Weber (Coleoptera: Carabidae) in the southern Levant, Israel Journal of Entomology (Oxford, England) 50 (2), pp. 133-158 : 150-152

Calosoma sycophanta (Linné, 1758)

( Fig. 11)

Dispersal power: Macropterous, flight active (Lindroth 1985, 1986). In Israel known from light trapping at middle altitudes of Mt Hermon.

Habitat and natural history: Both larvae and adults are arboreal in deciduous and coniferous woodlands, abundant especially during caterpillar outbreaks (Burgess & Collins 1917; Trautner 2017). In Israel, the species prefers stands with oak species (especially Quercus libani , Q. cerris and Q. boisieri ). In Jordan, the two known specimens came from an oak forest close to Jarash (Nasir & Katbeh-Bader 2017), where Quercus calliprinos occurs. Basic life history and ecology aspects of C. sycophanta , including a life span up to 4 years, are described by Burgess (1911 a, b), Burgess & Collins (1915, 1917) and Nolte (1938). The species is favoured by outbreaks of gypsy moth ( Lymantria dispar ) and makes a substantial impact on gypsy moth population density, at least in North America ( Bess 1961; Campbell 1975; Weseloh 1985 a, b, 1988, 1990). In Turkey, C. sycophanta beetles feed on numerous moth species, including pine processionary moth ( Thaumetopoea pityocampa ), and may regulate outbreaks of moth species ( Kanat & Mol 2008, and references therein) and are used as biocontrol agents ( Kanat & Özbolat 2006).

Phenology: In Europe and North America, a spring and early summer breeder with larvae during late spring and summer, adults hibernate ( Burgess 1911 a; Lindroth 1985, 1986). In Israel, observed and collected from April to June , mainly in May. Material examined: Syria or Lebanon: 1♂ ‘ Syria, Reitter’ . Israel: 1♂ ‘ Palaestina’ , Reitter ; Har Hermon : Har Hermon : 1♀ 2200 m, 2.vi.1993, V. Chikatunov, 1 eX. (elytra), 2100 m, 17.v.2009, L. Friedman; Har Hermon, 2000 m: 1♂ 10.vi.1977, Y.Hadar, 1♀ 10.vi.1992, R. Kasher, 1♂ 1♀ 25.v.1996, R. Hoffman, 1♀ 12.vi.1996, A. Freidberg, 1♂ 15.v.2001, D. Simon; Har Hermon: 1♀ 1800 m, 12.vi.2003, L. Friedman, 1♀ 1600 m, 17.v.2001, R. Hoffman, 1♂ 1500 m, 21.v.1992, R. Kasher, 1♂ 1500 m, 30.v.1992, E. Oren; 1♀ Majdal Shams, 18.v.2001, V. Kravchenko; 1♂ 1♀ ‘Syrien, Kaifa’ [N Israel, probably Galilee], Reitter (all SMNHTAU); Carmel Ridge : Haifa, Mt Carmel , 11.vi.2012, B. Orbach ( COQ) .

Distribution range: From Mauretania to Central Asia, northwards to Central Europe ( Germany, Poland; records from Scandinavia and Britain are interpreted as accidental visitors; Lindroth 1974, 1985, 1986; Luff 2007), southwards to North Africa (Mediterranean climate zone) ( Bruschi 2013; HÄckel 2017). West Siberia is considered a recent range expansion ( Stolbov et al. 2018). As an antagonist of Lymantria dispar ( Burgess 1911 a) , the beetle has been successfully introduced to North America, where its distribution range is still expanding ( Schaefer et al. 1999).

Distribution range in southern Levant: Egypt (after HÄckel 2017, but no records given by Alfieri (1976) and Abdel-Dayem (2004)), Jordan (Nasir & Katbeh-Bader 2017), Israel (only known from Carmel Mountains and Mt Hermon ; Ptashkovsky (2013) also reports this species but there are no records in his collection), Syria ( Bruschi 2013).

Conservation: In Central Europe, the species is threatened and its population is significantly waning ( Luka et al. 2009; Schmidt et al. 2016). A similar decline has also been observed at least in the south-western part of the distribution range (pers. obs. in Spain and Italy). A strong sensitivity of beetles towards some pesticides may be the reason for the population drops (cf. Görn 2019).