Lethrus serhalotes is a beetle of the Dwarf family ( Geotrupidae ) of the platypus superfamily. Unlike its close relatives - dung beetles and copra, it feeds not on the excrement of herbivores, but on vegetation.
| Lethrus cephalotes |
 |
| Scientific classification |
|---|
| No rank : | Bilateral symmetric |
| Hoard : | Insects with full transformation |
| Suborder : | Polyphagous beetles |
| Infrastructure : | Scarabaeiformia Crowson, 1960 |
| Family: | Excavators-excavations |
|
| International Scientific Name |
|---|
Lethrus cephalotes Pallas , 1771 |
| Synonyms |
|---|
- Lethrus dispar Jakovlev, 1890
- Lucanus apterus Pallas , 1781
|
|
Body length 11-18 mm [1] . The body is black with a bluish tint. The head is large with large jaws (especially in males), often punctuated from above - individual points can merge into wrinkles. Pronotum with widely rounded edges, both anterior and posterior. Its disk is punctuated. The appendage on the left mandible of males is protruded as a triangle (diagnostic sign) [1] . The appendage on the top of the right mandible is developed. The wings are not developed, the elytra are spliced.
Lethrus serhalotes is found in southeastern Europe (Russia, Hungary), the steppes of Western Kazakhstan to the right bank of the Emba in the south, in the east the area is limited to the left bank of the River Or [1] . It lives in steppe stations , beetles are active from April to early June [1] .
Nibbles buds and young shoots of various plants, especially the vine. Registered as an agricultural pest [1] [2] .
In the spring, beetles (both males and females) dig minks in the ground, which are filled with tamped green particles of plants (plants harvest both sexes) and the mink is buried again. In closed holes, harvested rammed food begins to ferment, is processed with fungi and bacteria and gradually turns into a kind of silage . It is this silage that feeds the larvae of beetles. The female lays one egg in each burrow.
