Calliptamus plebeius (Walker, 1870)


Calliptamus plebeius: Male (Gran Canaria, Mirador de Tasartico, 700m, mid-December 2016) [N] Calliptamus plebeius: Male (Gran Canaria, Mirador de Tasartico, 700m, mid-December 2016) [N] Calliptamus plebeius: Male (Gran Canaria, Mirador de Tasartico, 700m, mid-December 2016) [N] Calliptamus plebeius: Male, abdominal tip, dorsal view (Gran Canaria, Mirador de Tasartico, 700m, mid-December 2016) [M] Calliptamus plebeius: Female (Gran Canaria, Mirador de Tasartico, 700m, mid-December 2016) [N] Calliptamus plebeius: Female (Gran Canaria, Mirador de Tasartico, 700m, mid-December 2016) [N] Calliptamus plebeius: Female (Gran Canaria, Mirador de Tasartico, 700m, mid-December 2016) [N] Calliptamus plebeius: Female (Gran Canaria, Mirador de Tasartico, 700m, mid-December 2016) [N] Calliptamus plebeius: Male (La Gomera, December 2008) [N] Calliptamus plebeius: Male (La Gomera) [N] Calliptamus plebeius: Male (La Gomera, December 2008) [N] Calliptamus plebeius: Female (La Gomera, December 2008) [N] Calliptamus plebeius: Female (La Gomera) [N] Calliptamus plebeius: Habitat (La Gomera, Dezember 2008) [N] Calliptamus plebeius: Habitat (Gran Canaria, Mirador de Tasartico, 700m, mid-December 2016) [N]

Nutrition:
The species feeds on grasses and herbs. They also feed on the Rubus fruticosus agg. leaves that are occasionally interspersed in the habitats.

Habitat:
Calliptamus plebeius inhabits xerothermic habitats with open ground spots, but also in places dense vegetation of grasses and small shrubs. I met it on stony to rocky, grassy slopes in the area of Valle Hermosa in La Gomera on Christmas 2008 in larger numbers.

Life cycle:
The adults seem to be observed throughout the year. Besides adults, I met also larvae in December 2008. Calliptamus plebeius is a good flier in both sexes. The females remained more at the grass, the males more on the open ground. Presumably, the eggs are laid in the ground.

Remarks:
Calliptamus plebeius is endemic to the Canary Islands. Here it seems to lack only in Fuerteventura.



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