3-5-2026 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - ROUND NECKED LONGHORN BEETLE (Stenopterus rufus)

Stenopterus rufus is a beetle species of round-necked longhorns belonging to the family Cerambycidae, subfamily Cerambycinae.

Stenopterus rufus can reach a length of 7–16 millimetres (0.28–0.63 in). The body has a velvet-like hair. Elytra are very narrow. Antennae are about as long as the body and clearly segmented. The head and pronotum are black colored and the abdomen has a black background color horizontally crossed by yellow stripes. The first two segments of their antennae are black, the color of the following ones is variable but generally yellow with items III to V black at the apex, but sometimes items III to XI are entirely yellow or entirely black. Elytra are red with black base and apex. The legs are mainly red.

Larvae are polyphagous wood borers in dead branches of deciduous trees (Quercus, Castanea, Robinia, Juglans, Prunus, Salix, Pistacia, Corylus avellana, Ostrya carpinifolia, Paliurus spina-christi etc.).

The adults can be encountered from May through August, completing their life cycle in two years. They are very common flower-visitors, especially Apiaceae species, Heracleum sphondylium and Ranunculus repens, feeding on pollen and the nectar.

This beetle is widespread in most of Europe, in Caucasus, Transcaucasia, Iran and in the Near East (Albania, Armenia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Corsica, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iran, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russia, Sardinia, Serbia, Sicily, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Syria, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine).

These beetles mainly inhabit meadows, hedge rows, beech forests and wet forests.

11-5-2025 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - ROUND NECKED LONGHORN BEETLE (Stenopterus rufus)

Stenopterus rufus is a xerothermic Euro-Turanian species, widespread from Portugal to Turkmenistan, with two "real" subspecies (S. rufus transcaspicus Lazarev, 2008 and S. rufus syriacus Pic, 1892). The third one, S. r. geniculatus Kraatz, 1863), is illusory since specimens with the same characters are also frequently collected from Spain to Germany or the Netherlands, where they are even predominant. Moreover, perfectly typical ones are found in the Balkans, Anatolia and even in the typical series of geniculatus (excerpted from [✧]). The nominotypical subspecies is distributed in warm regions of Central and West Europe and almost whole Mediterranean region.

Larvae of S. rufus develop in dead branches of many deciduous trees and shrubs, pupation in pupal cell in the wood during spring. Life-cycle two years. Adults, active from late spring May to August, are diurnal and anthophilous (typically on Achillea or Apiaceae) [❖].

Body length: 7 - 16 mm

Life cycle: 2 years

Adults in: May - August

Host plant: polyphagous in deciduous trees (Quercus, Castanea, Robinia, Juglans, Prunus, Salix, Pistacia etc.)

Distribution: Austria, Belgium, Bosnia Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldavia, Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Russia, Switzerland, Ukraine, Canary Islands