Bug FAQBlack-striped Longhorn Beetle
Stenurella melanura · Order: Coleoptera · Family: Cerambycidae
The black-striped longhorn beetle is a small beetle about 6 to 10 mm long and shows distinct colour patterns in males and females. It lives on sunny forest edges and mountain pastures across most of Europe, the eastern Palearctic, the Oriental realm and the Near East, and adults visit flowers from May through September.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
The head, pronotum and abdomen are black; males have yellow-brown wing covers with a black tip, while females have reddish wing covers and often a black suture.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Adults measure between 6 and 10 mm in length.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
They are found on sunny forest edges, mixed coniferous and spruce-pine forests, as well as alpine and mountain pastures.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Larvae develop in rotting wood of deciduous and coniferous trees, especially sweet chestnut, while adults feed on pollen and nectar of flowers, especially Apiaceae.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
Adults appear from May to September and the species completes its life cycle over two years.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
You can see adults from May through September.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
The species is widespread throughout most of Europe, the eastern Palearctic, the Oriental realm and the Near East.
Source: Wikipedia
More photos
Questions people ask
When are black-striped longhorn beetles active?
Adults are active from May through September.
Source: Wikipedia
What do the larvae feed on?
The larvae grow in rotting wood of both deciduous and coniferous trees, especially sweet chestnut.
Source: Wikipedia
What flowers do the adults visit?
Adults commonly visit Apiaceae flowers, feeding on their pollen and nectar.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Cerambycidae)
House LonghornHylotrupes bajulusCan damage your home
Asian Longhorned BeetleAnoplophora glabripennisDamages trees, gardens or crops
Red Milkweed BeetleTetraopes tetrophthalmus
White-spotted SawyerMonochamus scutellatusCan damage your home
Red Pine Longhorn BeetleStictoleptura rubra
Spotted Longhorn BeetleRutpela maculataSources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stenurella_melanura
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-24 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.