''Rutpela maculata'', the spotted longhorn, is a

beetle Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...

species of flower longhorns of the family

Cerambycidae The longhorn beetles (Cerambycidae), also known as long-horned or longicorns, are a large family of beetles, with over 35,000 species described. Most species are characterized by extremely long antennae, which are often as long as or longer than ...

, subfamily Lepturinae.

Varieties

Varieties within this species include: *''Rutpela maculata ''var.'' calcarata'' Olivier, 1790 *''Rutpela maculata ''var.'' maculipes'' Podaný, 1950 *''Rutpela maculata ''var.'' nigricornis'' (Stierlin, 1864) *''Rutpela maculata ''var.'' seminotata'' Kaufman, 1947 *''Rutpela maculata ''var.'' subbinotata'' Podaný *''Rutpela maculata ''var.'' subsinuata'' Depoli *''Rutpela maculata ''var.'' undulata'' (Mulsant, 1839) *''Rutpela maculata ''var.'' subexternepunctata'' Podaný *''Rutpela maculata ''var.'' parumnotata'' Podaný *''Rutpela maculata ''var.'' subspinosa'' Fabricius, 1792 *''Rutpela maculata ''var.'' subundulata'' Depoli, 1926 *''Rutpela maculata ''var.'' subdisconotata'' Podaný *''Rutpela maculata ''var.'' sinuata'' Fabricius, 1792

Distribution

This beetle is widespread in most of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

, in the eastern

Palearctic realm The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Si ...

, 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).Fauna europaea
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Description

The adults grow up to . 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.Hoskovec M., Rejzek M.:
Longhorn beetles (Cerambycidae) of the West Palearctic region
/ref>

Biology

Adults can be encountered from May through August, completing their

life cycle Life cycle, life-cycle, or lifecycle may refer to: Science and academia * Biological life cycle, the sequence of life stages that an organism undergoes from birth to reproduction ending with the production of the offspring * Life-cycle hypothesi ...

in two-three years. They only live two-four weeks. They are very common flower-visitors, especially

Apiaceae Apiaceae or Umbelliferae is a family of mostly aromatic flowering plants named after the type genus '' Apium'' and commonly known as the celery, carrot or parsley family, or simply as umbellifers. It is the 16th-largest family of flowering plant ...

species, feeding on pollen and the nectar. Larvae are polyphagous in deciduous trees, mainly feeding on ''

Picea abies ''Picea abies'', the Norway spruce or European spruce, is a species of spruce native to Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. It has branchlets that typically hang downwards, and the largest cones of any spruce, 9–17 cm long. It is very clo ...

'', ''

Corylus avellana ''Corylus avellana'', the common hazel, is a species of flowering plant in the birch family Betulaceae. It is native to Europe and western Asia. It is an important component of the hedgerows that were the traditional field boundaries in lowland En ...

'', ''

Fagus sylvatica ''Fagus sylvatica'', the European beech or common beech is a deciduous tree belonging to the beech family Fagaceae. Description ''Fagus sylvatica'' is a large tree, capable of reaching heights of up to tall and trunk diameter, though more ...

'', ''

Castanea sativa ''Castanea sativa'', the sweet chestnut, Spanish chestnut or just chestnut, is a species of tree in the family Fagaceae, native to Southern Europe and Asia Minor, and widely cultivated throughout the temperate world. A substantial, long-lived ...

'' and ''

Ostrya carpinifolia ''Ostrya carpinifolia'', the European hop-hornbeam, is a tree in the family Betulaceae. It is the only species of the genus '' Ostrya'' that is native to Europe. The specific epithet ''carpinifolia'' means "hornbeam-leaved", from , the Latin wor ...

'', as well as on ''

Quercus An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ' ...

'', ''

Carpinus Hornbeams are hardwood trees in the flowering plant genus ''Carpinus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The 30–40 species occur across much of the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Origin of names The common English name ''hornbeam ...

'', ''

Salix Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist s ...

'', ''

Alnus Alders are trees comprising the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus comprises about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few spec ...

'', ''

Populus ''Populus'' is a genus of 25–30 species of deciduous flowering plants in the family Salicaceae, native to most of the Northern Hemisphere. English names variously applied to different species include poplar (), aspen, and cottonwood. The we ...

'' and ''

Betula A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech- oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contain ...

'' species.

References

External links

Cerambycoidea
Lepturinae Beetles of Europe Beetles described in 1761 Taxa named by Nikolaus Poda von Neuhaus {{Lepturinae-stub

Varieties

Distribution

Description

Biology

See also

References

External links