39 Spotted Longhorn Beetle

Rutpela maculata

Characteristics

Length: 0.59–0.79 in (15–20 mm).

Flight season: Late April–September.

Nectar sources: Many flowers.

Habitat: Woodland, scrub, parks, gardens.

Also known as the black-and-yellow longhorn, this colourful beetle is usually seen nectaring on the flowerheads of plants such as cow parsley, hogweeds, thistles, and hawthorns. It is wary of disturbance and readily flies when approaced. These beetles are common in the UK and across much of Europe, frequenting woodland edge, scrub, parks, and gardens where its food plants grow. The abdomen and wing covers are long and narrow, the latter yellow or orange-yellow with black bands and spots. Some individuals are all black, others all yellow. The front two pairs of legs are yellow, and the hind legs are black.

Spotted longhorns mate on flowers, the female then laying her eggs in decaying fallen timber or rotting stumps, especially of birch trees. This is a long-lived beetle, its complete life cycle lasting two or three years. Most of this time is spent as a grub, which develops within the moist, decaying wood. When it has grown sufficiently, it pupates, emerging as an adult sometime between late April and July. The adults live for four weeks at most.