| Rutpela maculata | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Male | |
| Female | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Coleoptera |
| Suborder: | Polyphaga |
| Infraorder: | Cucujiformia |
| Family: | Cerambycidae |
| Genus: | Rutpela |
| Species: | R. maculata |
| Binomial name | |
| Rutpela maculata (Poda, 1761) | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Rutpela maculata, the spotted longhorn, is a beetle species of flower longhorns of the family Cerambycidae, subfamily Lepturinae.
Varieties within this species include: [1]
This beetle is widespread in most of Europe, in the eastern Palearctic realm, and in the Near East (Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Corsica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Sardinia, Serbia, Sicily, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Turkey, and the United Kingdom). [2] [1]
The adults grow up to 13–20 millimetres (0.51–0.79 in). 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. [3]
The species completes its life cycle in two to three years, spending most of their lives as larvae. [3] The adults can be encountered from May to August; they are short-lived, only living for two to four weeks. They are very common flower-visitors, especially Apiaceae species, feeding on pollen and the nectar. The larvae are polyphagous in the wood of deciduous trees, mainly feeding on Corylus avellana , Fagus sylvatica , Castanea sativa and Ostrya carpinifolia , as well as on Quercus , Carpinus , Salix , Alnus , Populus and Betula species. [1] [3]
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