Rutpela maculata

Rutpela maculata
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Family: Cerambycidae
Subfamily: Lepturinae
Genus: Rutpela
Species: R. maculata
Binomial name
Rutpela maculata
(Poda, 1761)
Synonyms
  • Leptura armata Herbst in Füssli, 1784
  • Leptura fasciata Scopoli, 1763
  • Leptura nigra Petagna, 1787 nec Linnaeus, 1758
  • Leptura quinquemaculata Gmelin, 1790
  • Leptura rubea Geoffroy, 1785
  • Rutpela maculata (Poda) Nakane & Ohbayashi, 1957
  • Stenocorus belga major Voet, 1806
  • Strangalia maculata P(Poda) Mulsant, 1863

Rutpela maculata, the Spotted Longhorn, is a beetle species of flower longhorns belonging to the family Cerambycidae, subfamily Lepturinae.

Rutpela maculata – mating pair

This beetle is widespread in most of Europe, in East Palearctic ecozone and in the Near East.

Larvae are polyphagous in deciduous trees, mainly feeding on Picea abies, Corylus avellana, Fagus sylvatica, Castanea sativa and Ostrya carpinifolia, as well as on Quercus, Carpinus, Salix, Alnus, Populus and Betula species.

The adults grow up to 13–20 millimetres (0.51–0.79 in) and can be encountered from May through August, completing their life cycle in two-three years. Adults only live two-four weeks.

The head and pronotum are dark-brown, while elytra are yellowish, with black dots and stripes, rough imitations of wasps, which probably gives them some protection from birds.

The adults are very common flower-visitors, especially Apiaceae species, feeding on pollen and the nectar.

External links


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, September 15, 2014. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.