Biological cycle and larval morphology of Cychrus cordicollis Chaudoir 1835 (Coleoptera: Carabidae)

Abstract Little information is available on the pre-imaginal stages of Cychrini and nothing is known on the life history of high-altitude Cychrus species. In this work the author describes some unpublished observations on the biology of Cychrus cordicollis, a species endemic to the Pennine Alps, in the Mount Rose massif, and to part of the Lepontine and Rhaetian Alps. In particular, for the first time for a high-altitude Cychrus species, some data are given about oviposition and female prolificity, obtained from laboratory rearings. The larval morphology of the first, second, and third instar is described in detail. Some differential characters in the larval chaetotaxy of this species are highlighted comparing it with the already known larval descriptions of other six Cychrus species and with the models proposed by Bousquet & Goulet (1984) and Makarov (1993).