Stenopterus rufus

Appearance

''Stenopterus rufus'' can reach a length of 7–16 millimetres . 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.

Naming

Subspecies and varietas include:
⤷  ''Stenopterus rufus rufus''
⟶ ''Stenopterus rufus rufus var.'' caubeti Podaný, 1957
⟶ ''Stenopterus rufus rufus var. cavalairensis'' Jurecek
⟶ ''Stenopterus rufus rufus var. geniculatus Kraatz'', 1863
⟶ ''Stenopterus rufus rufus var. meridionalis'' Ragusa
⟶ ''Stenopterus rufus rufus var. nigricornis'' Depoli, 1926
⟶ ''Stenopterus rufus rufus var. nigrolineatus'' Plavilstshikov
⤷  ''Stenopterus rufus syriacus'' Pic, 1903
⤷  ''Stenopterus rufus transcaspicus'' Plavilstshikov, 1940

Distribution

This beetle is widespread in most of Europe, in Caucasus, Transcaucasia, Iran and in the Near East .

Behavior

Larvae are polyphagous wood borers in dead branches of deciduous trees .

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.

Habitat

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