Cucujus cinnaberinus is one of the protected species of forests. Its appearance is linked to dead wood and plays an important role in the nutrient cycle of wood degradation.
Its presence can be detected only targeted monitoring, because the larvae hides under the bark on freshly dead trunks, and the adult beetles are active for a short time. Cucujus cinnaberinus monitoring happened during the winter.
We have already collected a lot of data in the Peszér-forest. In the years 2019 and 2020, we will review all the details of Peszér-forest (over 1,000 hectares) to produce a high resolution habitat map for the cucujus cinnaberinus.
Our results:
- we had revealed from more than 60 forest fragments of cucujus cinnaberinus
- larvae, less frequently larval hides, adult beetles, or remains of fallen specimens (such as flaps) were most frequently found
- this beetle is found in the vast majority of suitable trees in the Peszér-forest, so tens of thousands of specimens are estimated to be local. This means that the Peszér-forest is one of the most important cucujus cinnaberinus habitats in the Danube-Tisza region.
written by Barnabás Hadi and Csaba Vadász
