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A golden-bloomed grey longhorn beetle resting on a pink flowerhead

Golden-bloomed grey longhorn beetle © Jon Hawkins - Surrey Hills Photography

A golden-bloomed grey longhorn beetle resting on a leaf

Golden-bloomed grey longhorn beetle © Tom Hibbert

Golden-bloomed grey longhorn beetle

This beautiful beetle is fond of damp meadows and woodland rides, where it's often found on umbellifers or thistles.

Scientific name

Agapanthia villosoviridescens

When to see

April to August

Species information

Statistics

Length: 10-22mm
Common

Habitats

About

These impressive longhorn beetles live up to the name, with incredibly long antennae that are striped black and grey. They're found in wet grasslands, woodland rides and edges, and road verges, where there are plenty of lush herbs. On warm days in late spring and summer, adults can often be seen sitting on flowers, particularly umbellifers such as cow parsley and hogweed.

How to identify

A large and distinctive beetle with black and grey banded antennae that are longer than the body. The wing cases are mottled golden yellow and black. The head and pronotum (the section behind the head) are dark with a distinct yellow line running across the centre.

Distribution

Locally common across central and southern England, though absent from the southwest. Scarcer in northern England and largely absent from Wales.

Did you know?

Most longhorn beetle larvae develop inside woody plants, but golden-bloomed grey longhorn beetles grow in herbaceaous plants instead. Females chew a hole through the stem of a host plant, such as hogweed, and lay an egg inside. After hatching, the larva feeds on the inside of the stem.