Agapanthia villosoviridescen - Larva in Hogweed stem

Adding this image because I often find these larvae in the stems of Common Hoogweed (Heracleum sphondylium) after winter.
This one, I dropped back into a stem cut in half length wise and it immediately began to move about in it as if the stem was still intact. It shows how the larva is "holding on" in a stem, even if it is upright, by arching its body an wedging itself in between the adapted "tail" and the "humps" on the back, while the head/thorax is free to move and scrape on the inside of the stem to feed.

comments (3)

Ferdy Christant

Lion

Interesting! How does it get into such a stem....or out? Posted 5 years ago
1. Pudding4brains
  
  Lion
  
  Mom buries an egg high up in the plant/stalk and the hatched larva will start feeding, working its way down, so while the larva grows it will get to wider and wider parts of the stalk, keeping this way of locomotion in tune with the larval size. In the end a pupal chamber is created near ground level and after eclosure the beetle knaws its way out (or just walks out when the stalk is snapped of the ground ...
  The stems/stalks of Hoogweed are teeming with life this time of year - beetles, bugs, spiders ... sometimes it's clear how they got in (exit holes of butterflies or beetles), but sometimes I'm also just stunned :o) Posted 5 years ago
2. 1. Ferdy Christant
    
    Lion
    
    Thanks, perfect answer! Posted 5 years ago

The Golden-bloomed grey longhorn beetle

"Agapanthia villosoviridescens", also known as the golden-bloomed grey longhorn beetle, is a species of beetle in the Lamiinae subfamily, that can be found in the Caucasus, Europe, Kazakhstan, the Near East, Russia and Turkey.

Info 20 0

Similar species: Beetles

Species identified by Pudding4brains