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photo gallery of the beetle fauna of Germany

The 10 to 12 mm large comb-clawed beetle Pseudocistela ceramboides (family Alleculidae) is the only representative of the genus in Germany. In the entire Palearctic the genus comprises ten species, thereof six in the eastern Palearctic. Pseudocistela ceramboides is known to occur from South England and southern Fennoscandia to Northern Italy and in east-west direction from France to the Baltic. The beetles can be found from May to July in sparse oak forests, clearcuttings and at the edges of forests. The adult beetles live on decaying wood, mainly oak. The larvae develop in decaying wood and wood detritus. The beetles are nocturnal and attracted to light sources. In Germany, recent records of Pseudocistela ceramboides are known from most Federal States, but the species is regarded as endangered (RL ,2).