Forum Entomologi Italiani

Hi guys

I m fighting with these...close for me seems to be M. saharica, but not 100 % sure. Aedeagus doesn`t match too much. + I have saharica from other places. When I compared them, this one looks different. For references I m using only Lech`s website, where are not all moroccan species photographed. Then there is M. carbonaria, which looks pretty much similar to this one, but its distribution seems to be only Algeria ( Pal cat ). So there I finished.
Any ideas ?

Sorry, I can`t really do better photos

Thanks !

Zdeno, try to identify it using this paper

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Maurizio Bollino

How large in length is this beetle? If above 5 mm then the best candidate is Macrocoma henoni.

Thanks Maurizio. I did not have this one !

@Lech - 4-6mm

So...candidates so far are still hennoni and saharica.

There is missing aedeagus of bipartita, dakkai, haiensis, peyerimhoffi. Any idea where I could find them ?

Thanks !

M. bipartita is known only from female, peyerimhoffi has male genitalia as in M. henoni, M. dakkai has male genitalia as in M. saharica. M. haiensis is little known but well differs from your specimens in reddish legs and antennae. We have in our collection a series of M. henoni and they look extremely similar to your specimen but have more metallic dorsal sheen but this character is variable in M. henoni, from completely black to distinctly metallic (bluish, cupreous, green or gold).

hmmm ....so dakkai seems to be only form of saharica as well as peyerimhoffi form of henoni. So I will forget these.
Thanks Lech !

I m going to open more males. Aedeagus of saharica and henoni looks very similar in that work. @colour - all my saharica is only metallic red/purple with both sexes. With these, males are only green and females black. I m not taking it as a character. I know the colour vary quite a lot. Just my observations...

Once again, thanks !

Macrocoma henoni occidentalis (ESCALERA 1914)

Thanks bot for your help !!!