Long-horned Beetles (Cerambycidae)

Long-horned beetles, with currently 20000 species known approximately, are widespread in all regions of the world. They are elegant insects with slender shapes, with varied colors - often garish, sometimes metallic. Some however have a grey or brown background colour, decorated with nebulous spots or shapes, which enable them to be camouflaged against the bark of the trees on which they live.

Their antennae are very well developed in the majority of species, especially in the males. Some species have them much longer than the body, and this characteristic won them the name of long-horned beetles. Many long-horned beetles are diurnal. They can be found on flowers, especially those of umbellifers, Compositae, Rosaceae. They fly away rapidly in warm, sunny weather, but hide under the leaves or the flowers when weather is cold or cloudy. Some species alight and run on the trunks of the trees on foot, prefering recently killed/felled logs or fallen trunks.  Mating occurs in these locations, and also females oviposit (lay eggs) into the bark. The many nocturnal species of this family remain hidden dirung the day and become active with the fall of the night.

The larvae are fleshy, cylindrical, sometimes flattened, of white or slightly ivory color. They feed exclusively on vegetable matter, digging their galleries in wood. They generally attack dead or dying trees, but also healthy trees which are not long in decaying. Some burrow the roots or the stems of the shrubs or herbaceous plants. These larvae are harmful.