Oedemera flavipes is a very common species of beetle of the family Oedemeridae, subfamily Oedemerinae.

Oedemera flavipes
Female
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Family: Oedemeridae
Genus: Oedemera
Species:
O. flavipes
Binomial name
Oedemera flavipes
(Fabricius, 1792)

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

Oedemera flavipes – male

Their body is gray-green, dark green or coppery, while forelegs are yellow (hence the Latin word flavipes) or reddish. The male of Oedemera flavipes, as in most Oedemera species, possesses the hind femora very swollen, whereas in female the femora are thin.

The adults grow up to 9–11 millimetres (0.35–0.43 in) long and can mostly be encountered from May through July feeding on pollen and nectar, mainly on Asteraceae, Rosaceae, Convolvulaceae and Apiaceae species. They are a common prey of the checkered beetle, Trichodes alvearius.

The larvae develop in stems of herbaceous plants or in decaying branches.

Similar species

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Oedemera nobilis

References

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  • Švihla, Vladimír (1999). "Revision of the subgenera Stenaxis and Oedemera s. str. of the genus Oedemera (Coleoptera: Oedemeridae)". Folia Heyrovskyana. Suppl. 4: 1–117.
  • Vazquez, X. A. 2002. European Fauna of Oedemeridae - Argania editio, Barcelona, 179 pp.