Red Longhorn Beetle - Stictoleptura rubra

Scientific Name: Stictoleptura rubra (syn. Leptura rubra).

English Name: Red Longhorn Beetle.

French Name: La Lepture rouge.

5 Key Characters:

• length 10 - 20 mm.
• females have red pronotum (section between the head and the body), males have black.
• both have red elytra (wing cases).
• very often observed on umbellifers.
• associated with coniferous woodland.
  

Lookalikes: Blood Red Longhorn Beetle Anastrangalia sanguinolenta, which does not have large swellings on the side of the pronotum.

Habitat: Coniferous woodland and nearby flower rich grassland.

Active Period: May-June-July-August-September.

Status: Locally common.

References and Further Reading:
Identification - Longhorn beetles: Part 1 by Andrew Duff in British Wildlife August 2007, with illustrations by Richard Lewington.

Insects of Britain and Western Europe by Michael Chinery.

Photographed by Loire Valley Nature:
All photos will enlarge in a new window if you click on them. Row 1 males on Field Scabious Knautia arvensis in our orchard, May.