| Black-striped Longhorn Beetle (Stenurella melanura (Linnaeus, 1758)) |
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Scientific name: Stenurella melanura (Linnaeus, 1758) Common name: Black-striped Longhorn Beetle Other names: Other scientific name: Strangalia melanura. French name: Lepture à suture noire Order: Coleoptera Family: Cerambycidae Wingspan : 6 to 10 mm. Biotope: Damp forests, damp meadows, flower meadows, hedgerows. Geographic area: Europe, Turkey, Iran. Observation period : May to September |
Among longhorn beetles you can recognize those of the lepturinae subfamily with their elytra narrowing posteriorly. The head, the pronotum, the legs and the abdomen of the Black-striped Longhorn Beetle are black. The elytra are reddish with a black tip. There is a sexual dimorphism. Females, slightly larger than males, show a broad black stripe on the apical three quarters of the elytral suture. This black mark is reduced on males. The larvae grow in deciduous or coniferous wood in decomposition, in particular in chestnut trees (Castanea sativa). The life cycle lasts two years. A very similar species, Stenurella sennii, has been described recently (in 2002). It is almost impossible to tell female Stenurella melanura apart from female Stenurella sennii. Male Stenurella sennii show golden yellow hairs on the head, on the pronotum and on the elytra. The elytra are not darkened on the suture. Male Stenurella melanura show black, and slightly shorter, hairs. The elytral suture is slightly darkened. |
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The black stripe on the elytral suture indicates a female. Though the presence of golden hairs, it is not possible to differentiate from Stenurella sennii. I will only mention Stenurella sp.. I will focus on males during my next observations. |
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I have observed this Beetle on the edge of a forest where many chestnut trees grow. |
André Bon September 2011
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