These bulky beetles can sometimes be found on flowers in woodland rides or along hedgerows.
Top facts
Stats
Length: 13-23 mm
Conservation status
Common
Pryd i'w gweld
April to August
Ynghylch
The black-spotted longhorn beetle is found throughout most of the UK. They're usually seen in woodlands, or along hedgerows. The adult beetles often visit flowers to feed on nectar and pollen, particularly hawthorns and umbellifers. Female beetles lay their eggs on fallen dead wood, old stumps, or decaying trees. The larvae live beneath the bark, feeding on rotting wood. They can spend two or three years in this stage, before creating a little chamber of wood fibre in which to pupate. They pupate in late summer or early autumn, but the adults stay within their pupal chamber until spring.
What to look for
A mottled yellowish-brown and black beetle. It has two large black spots on its wing cases, with a pale band either side of each spot. The antennae are relatively short for a longhorn beetle.
Where to find
Widespread in England and Wales, though more patchily distributed in East Anglia. Locally distributed across Scotland and in Northern Ireland. Absent from the Isle of Man.
Roeddech chi yn gwybod?
The larvae of this beetle contain antifreeze proteins that help them survive cold winters.