GALLERY
Group: LONGHORN BEETLES
♀ Timberman (Acanthocinus aedilis)
Where and when encountered: Nethy Bridge on 24 May 2024
About: Timberman beetles are remarkable for their long antennae: in males, three or four times the body length; and in females, close to twice the body length. Their larvae develop underneath the bark of dead or dying conifers, especially pines. Their stronghold in Great Britain is the Scottish Highlands (many of the scattered records from outside this region are likely to be a result of the commercial movement of timber).
Editor's note: The beetle in the photograph is a female.
Date range for live adult records: 3 to 24 May (22 days)
Years with at least one live adult record: 2024 (1)
♂ Timberman (Acanthocinus aedilis)
Where and when encountered: Abernethy Forest on 3 May 2024
About: Timberman beetles are remarkable for their long antennae: in males, three or four times the body length; and in females, close to twice the body length. Their larvae develop underneath the bark of dead or dying conifers, especially pines. Their stronghold in Great Britain is the Scottish Highlands (many of the scattered records from outside this region are likely to be a result of the commercial movement of timber).
Editor's note: The beetle in the photograph is a male.
Date range for live adult records: 3 to 24 May (22 days)
Years with at least one live adult record: 2024 (1)
♀ Blood-red longhorn beetle (Anastrangalia sanguinolenta)
Where and when encountered: Abernethy Forest on 22 June 2021
About: Blood-red longhorns are one of the rarest species of longhorn beetle in Great Britain, being largely confined to the Speyside area of the eastern Highlands. It is thought that other areas of the Highlands may be too damp or cold for them. Larvae develop in the wood of standing or fallen stems of large-girth pine trees that have lost their bark and are in a position that receives a lot of sun.
Editor's note: Females' wing cases are blood red (as in the photograph), while those of males are somewhat browner.
Date range for live adult records: 22 June to 16 August (56 days)
Years with at least one live adult record: 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 (4)
♂ Blood-red longhorn beetle (Anastrangalia sanguinolenta)
Where and when encountered: Abernethy Forest on 7 July 2022
About: Blood-red longhorns are one of the rarest species of longhorn beetle in Great Britain, being largely confined to the Speyside area of the eastern Highlands. It is thought that other areas of the Highlands may be too damp or cold for them. Larvae develop in the wood of standing or fallen stems of large-girth pine trees that have lost their bark and are in a position that receives a lot of sun.
Editor's note: Females' wing cases are blood red, while those of males are somewhat browner (as in the photograph).
Date range for live adult records: 22 June to 16 August (56 days)
Years with at least one live adult record: 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 (4)
Three-banded longhorn beetle (Judolia sexmaculata)
Where and when encountered: Abernethy Forest on 29 June 2022
About: The larvae of this species develop under bark and in decaying wood, principally that of pine and spruce. Old Caledonian pine forest is crucial for the survival of this species in Great Britain, with woods in the Speyside area being the beetle's stronghold.
Years with at least one live adult record: 2022 (1)
Four-banded longhorn beetle (Leptura quadrifasciata)
Where and when encountered: Grantown-on-Spey on 9 July 2022
About: Four-banded longhorn beetles are patchily distributed in Great Britain but can be found in both the uplands and the lowlands. The larvae develop in dead or decaying wood and adults can be found visiting flowers, with a peak in activity during the summer.
Date range for live adult records: 24 June to 11 August (49 days)
Years with at least one live adult record: 2022, 2024, 2025 (3)
Two-banded longhorn beetle (Rhagium bifasciatum)
Where and when encountered: Rothiemurchus Estate on 31 May 2021
About: The typical habitat for these large, ornately patterned beetles is damp woodland with a variety and abundance of dead wood, this being the sustenance required by their larvae. The species is common within numerous localities in Great Britain.
Date range for live adult records: 28 April to 7 July (71 days)
Years with at least one live adult record: 2021, 2022, 2024, 2025 (4)
Ribbed pine-borer (Rhagium inquisitor)
Where and when encountered: Grantown-on-Spey on 6 May 2025
About: This species has a vast range globally – stretching across Eurasia and from the desert south to the boreal north in North America. In Great Britain, however, these dead-wood feeders are mostly restricted to coniferous woodland (including that with Scots pines) in the Scottish Highlands.
Date range for live adult records: 13 April to 20 June (69 days)
Years with at least one live adult record: 2021, 2022, 2024, 2025 (4)
Black-spotted longhorn beetle (Rhagium mordax)
Where and when encountered: Glenfeshie on 10 May 2025
About: Black-spotted longhorn beetles may be encountered from the far north to the far south of Great Britain. Their larvae feed beneath the bark of wood from dead or dying trees.
Date range for live adult records: 10 to 13 May (4 days)
Years with at least one live adult record: 2024, 2025 (2)
Large poplar longhorn beetle (Saperda carcharias)
Where and when encountered: Insh Marshes on 29 June 2025
About: Large poplar longhorn beetles have a scattered distribution in Great Britain, with relative strongholds for their population existing in northern Scotland and eastern England. Larvae feed inside woody material (and adults consume the foliage) of trees in the genus Populus, in particular, as well as willows and some other species.
Years with at least one live adult record: 2025 (1)
Selected galleries
[ALL-TIME HIGHLIGHTS] [ARCTIC ALPINE PLANTS] [BUTTERFLIES] [COLOURFUL MOTHS] [DRAGONFLIES] [FORBS] [GALLS] [GRASSLAND ORCHIDS] [HOVERFLIES] [INSECTS OF EXPOSED RIVER SEDIMENT] [LONGHORN BEETLES] [PINE-ASSOCIATED FUNGI] [PLANT BUGS] [SHIELDBUGS] [UNCOMMON PINEWOOD HERBS] [WOODY PLANTS]