About Mylabris variabilis (Pallas, 1781)
Mylabris variabilis (Pallas, 1781) adults reach a body length of 8–20 millimetres (0.31–0.79 in). These beetles have a cylindrical, elongate body, with relatively convex yellow-orange elytra marked by wide transverse black wavy stripes. Their head is square-shaped with a flat forehead. The antennae are black, long, and made of eleven segments. The pronotum is long and wide, with parallel sides. The size of the black markings and elytron color are very variable, which is the source of this species' specific name variabilis. Elytron color can range from yellow, through orange, to light brown. Normally, this species has three black bands. The first and second bands are sometimes divided into four distinct spots. This species can be distinguished from similar related species by a black stripe at the end of its abdomen, and it is very similar to Mylabris pannonica Kaszab, 1956. This common species is distributed across most of Southern Europe, from the Iberian Peninsula to southern Russia. It can also be found in the Caucasus, Transcaucasia, the Near East, northern Levant, the Middle East, Central Asia, and Siberia.
