How to identify longhorn beetles

On warm days in late spring and summer, the sweet scent of stacks of freshly cut timber lures longhorn beetles into the open. These fabulous-looking insects – a treat for entomologists, but a potential pest for foresters – are searching for places to meet partners and lay their eggs.

For one or maybe two years, the beetle grubs have fattened up in woody tunnels, chewing the timber with powerful jaws. Some will have emerged as adults last autumn, hibernating over winter. Now the spring sunshine tempts them out.

How to find and record longhorn beetles:

A good place to start your quest is a sun- warmed logpile or stump, where you may well see a wasp beetle moving jerkily over the cut ends. It’s a plentiful species, but keep an eye out for its rarer relatives, such as the tanbark borer or the Welsh oak longhorn.

Look for exit holes where adults have emerged from trees or logs, then search the area carefully for sheltering adults. And check your log basket! Some longhorns may emerge from fireside logs into living rooms.

Many of these beetles feed at flowers: the black and yellow longhorn loves hogweed nectar, for instance. Scan blossoming hawthorn trees for two-banded, rufous-shouldered and black- spotted longhorns.

Try going out at night. Many beetles (not just longhorns) are at large after sundown. A torch-lit all in the woods can be a revelation.

There is a Longhorn Beetle Recording Scheme in place to encourage recording of this group and to manage the records, to find out more on the UK Beetle Recording website.