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Forester discovers almost extinct beetle in Lower Franconia

A forester has discovered the almost extinct hero beetle in a forest in Lower Franconia. The largest native beetle is considered to be threatened with extinction in Germany. The Bavarian State Institute for Forestry and Forest Economics announced on Thursday in Freising that the discovery was...

A hero buck crawls over a branch. Photo.aussiedlerbote.de
A hero buck crawls over a branch. Photo.aussiedlerbote.de

Nature - Forester discovers almost extinct beetle in Lower Franconia

A forester has discovered the almost extinct hero beetle in a forest in Lower Franconia. The largest native beetle is considered to be threatened with extinction in Germany. This is why the discovery is "absolutely exceptional", the Bavarian State Institute for Forestry and Forest Economics announced in Freising on Thursday.

In a forest near Kolitzheim (district of Schweinfurt), the forester had initially discovered thumb-sized boreholes in oak wood and later a freshly dead larva. A DNA analysis revealed that it was the hero beetle (Cerambyx cerdo).

According to the LWF, the species has only been found in Bavaria in the Luisenhain near Bamberg in the last 70 years or so. "The successful detection shows once again how valuable our native oak forests are for biodiversity," said LWF President Peter Pröbstle.

According to the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation, the longhorned beetle colonizes old oak trees in sunny locations. The nocturnal beetle used to be widespread in Germany, but is now only found in isolated cases in some federal states. According to the LWF, the hero beetle is brown-black with lighter reddish-brown wing tips. The larvae develop over three to five years in the wood of living oaks and feed on the wood.

LWF press releases Portrait of the longhorn beetle at the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation

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Source: www.stern.de

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