Silky Cryptocephalus - Cryptocephalus sericeus L.
The name comes from its ability to retract its head, covering it with the first segment of the thorax. This beetle has a cylindrical body shape, and its head appears to be lowered beneath the thorax. It can be golden-green, blue, purple, or copper-red. The overall coloration is metallic. The beetle is covered in dense dots. The wrinkles on the elytra give it a silky, almost matte sheen. Hence the name of the beetle. The lateral edge of the back is distinctly S-shaped; the sides of the back at the midpoint have noticeable oblique depressions. The elytra are smooth and noticeably narrowed towards the end. The body length of the beetle is 6–8 mm. The antennae are thread-like and extend beyond the middle of the elytra.
Beetles fly in June–July. They primarily inhabit forest-steppe and steppe zones, in low-lying areas with sufficient moisture, preferring mainly meadow and meadow-marsh vegetation, found on flowers.
They usually feed on pollen from composite and buttercup flowers.
The larvae of the beetles inhabit fallen leaves in hard cases. The larvae make cocoons from their own excrement: they live and move within them. They feed on decomposing organic material—detritus.
Distribution: the territory of the Issyk-Kul basin
Insects of Kyrgyzstan
