Meconema meridionale (Costa, 1860)


Meconema meridionale: Male [N] Meconema meridionale: Male (northern Upper Rhine Valley, late August 2008) [N] Meconema meridionale: Male [N] Meconema meridionale: Female (northern Upper Rhine Valley, late August 2008) [N] Meconema meridionale: Female [N] Meconema meridionale: Female [N] Meconema meridionale: Habitat: sallow (Salix caprea) in the Upper Rhine Valley [N]

Nutrition:
The species eats small other animals such as aphids and other insects.

Habitat:
Among the inhabited structures are wooded grasslands, individual trees in the landscape or in parks and gardens, hedge areas with single trees, woodland edges, scrub and similar places. Meconema meridionale is warmth loving and often occurs north of the Alps in cities. In the Rhine plain also natural habitats are colonized. There is no fixation on oaks, even if they are used preferrably. I tapped adults for example in the Rhine valley from a solitary sallow in the open fields.

Life cycle:
The eggs are deposited in cracked bark of trees (mostly on the trunk). The adults appear late from late July to the first stronger frosts in autumn, which is often the case in November.

Endangerment factors:
Meconema meridionale is endangered only at primary sites such as steppe slopes by habitat loss. Overall, Meconema meridionale benefits greatly from man north of the Alps (spread by passive transport, global warming).

Remarks:
The Adriato-Mediterranean distribution ranges from Southern France to the northern Balkans and from Sicily all across Italy and low-lying, favoured parts of the Alps to Southern Germany and further along the Rhine River to its mouth. Meconema meridionale spreads massively due to global warming (it has reached Schwäbisch Gmünd in 2007) and is likely to be widespread in Central Europe soon at least at altitudes below 400m above sea level.



Meconema thalassinum 
German version / deutsche Version