The BasicsBuprestis splendens, or the goldstreifiger beetle, is a European terrestrial beetle that is found in Southcentral to Northern Europe. It is a specialist species. (IUCN Red List)
Classified as obligate saproxylic (a beetle who lives in and consumes dead wood), this species lives in old growth Pinus forests, surviving on decayed wood. The most recent discovery of the Buprestis splendens was in 2009 when a population of the goldstreifiger was found in Romania (in a forest called the Pinus nigra relic forest). (IUCN Red List) Though the population is not stated, the beetles that have been discovered are usually found singularly with only a few spotted at a time. Estimated population is Location & Negative Human ImpactsThe goldstreifiger beetle has become extremely rare in Europe. They are located in isolated populations throughout Italy (2 localities in Basilicata), Spain (3 localities), Poland, southwestern Romania, Russia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Greece. Though they were once commonly found in the Ukraine and other parts of Central Europe, the beetle has since gone extinct due to commercial and illegal logging, lack of land management, slow regrowth of trees necessary for living, and beetle collecting due to the beetle's beautiful exterior. (IUCN Red List, IUCN European Red List of Saproxylic Beetles, and Cyclopaedia)
|
The goldstreifiger lays its eggs in the trunks of dead wood trees. Larvae development occurs in the large diameter trunks (more than 40 cm across) which must be sun-exposed. Due to the removal of veteran trees (old growth trees) by logging companies, the beetles are extremely vulnerable to threats such as predators or forest fires. (IUCN Red List)
|