Bug FAQYellow Velvet Beetle
Cosmosalia chrysocoma · Order: Coleoptera · Family: Cerambycidae
Yellow velvet beetles are 10 to 20 mm long and adults are most often seen on flowers during the summer. The larvae live in decaying wood of trees such as black spruce and poplar, and the species is a host for a parasitic wasp. They occur across Canada and have also been recorded in Montana and Wyoming, USA.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Adults are frequently observed feeding on flowers in the summer.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Adults measure between 10 and 20 mm (0.39 to 0.79 in) in length.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
Adults are commonly found on summer flowers, while larvae develop in decaying wood of trees such as black spruce and poplar.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Adult beetles feed on the flowers they visit in summer. Larvae consume decaying wood of trees such as black spruce and poplar.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
The larval stage lives in decaying wood of trees like black spruce and poplar. This beetle serves as a host for the parasitic wasp Coleocentrus quebecensis.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
Adults are most often seen on flowers during the summer months.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
In Canada the beetle is known from British Columbia eastward to Newfoundland and the northern territories. In the United States it has been recorded in Montana and Wyoming.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 20 of 51 states and DC. Most records: California, Oregon, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Utah, Washington, Colorado.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: native in North America; native in Canada. Source: iNaturalist
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
What do yellow velvet beetles eat?
Adults feed on summer flowers, while the larvae eat decaying wood of trees such as black spruce and poplar.
Source: Wikipedia
Where are yellow velvet beetles found?
They occur across many Canadian provinces and territories and have also been recorded in Montana and Wyoming, USA.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Cerambycidae)
House LonghornHylotrupes bajulusCan damage your home
Asian Longhorned BeetleAnoplophora glabripennisDamages trees, gardens or crops
Red Milkweed BeetleTetraopes tetrophthalmus
White-spotted SawyerMonochamus scutellatusCan damage your home
Red Pine Longhorn BeetleStictoleptura rubra
Spotted Longhorn BeetleRutpela maculataDamages trees, gardens or cropsSources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lepturobosca_chrysocoma
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-23 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-23.