Dasytes (Metadasytes) caeruleus

Scientific name: Dasytes (Metadasytes) caeruleus (De Geer, 1774)
Common name:
Other names: Other scientific name: Dasytes cyaneus.
French name: Dasyte bleu
Order: Coleoptera
Family: Dasytidae
Wingspan : 5 to 7 mm.
Biotope: Meadows, hedges, woodland edges in particular with the presence of Beeches. Adults are observed on flowers. Larvae grow in decaying wood.
Geographic area: Europe except Northern regions.
Observation period : April to July.

Dasytes caeruleus is a small beetle with an elongated body. Legs, eyes and antennae are black, the remaining parts of the body are metallic blue sometimes a little greenish.
The elytra are more than twice as long as wide. They are rounded at their tip. They are almost parallel on males and widen very slightly towards the rear on females.
The pronotum, slightly less long than wide, is narrower than the elytra, slightly rounded on the lateral sides and narrowed towards the front.
Males have very large and very prominent eyes compared to the anterior part of the pronotum. Females have smaller eyes.
Males' antennae are longer than half the body. Those of females are shorter. They are just a little longer than head and pronotum combined.
The body is covered with double pubescence, grey and short and long, black and erected. It is more or less finely punctuated.
Psilothrix viridicoerulea is distinguished by much shorter antennae.

Dasytes (Metadasytes) caeruleus - Saône-et-Loire, France - June 4th 2016

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The photo is not extraordinary in particular because of the spiders' webs and a view from above would have been appreciated to confirm the identification.
However, the general appearance, the colour, the pubescence and the length of the antennae (which seem quite large due to the angle with respect to the plane of the photo) point towards Dasytes caeruleus.
The size of the eye indicates a male.

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André Bon May 2022