Bug FAQHeart longhorn beetle
Stictoleptura cordigera · Order: Coleoptera · Family: Cerambycidae
Adults are 14 to 20 mm long and have a black head, pronotum and abdomen with bright reddish wing covers marked by a black pattern. They visit flowers, especially those of the carrot family, to drink nectar and collect pollen, while the larvae live in decaying wood of oaks, cork oak, pistachio and chestnut trees. Adults appear from June through August and the species completes its life cycle in two to three years.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
The head, pronotum and abdomen are black, and the elytra are bright red with a distinctive black drawing.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Adults grow to about 14 to 20 mm (0.55 to 0.79 in) in length.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
They are frequent visitors of flowers, especially Apiaceae species, where they feed on pollen and nectar.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Adults feed on pollen and nectar from flowers, particularly those of the carrot family. Larvae are polyphagous, developing in rotten wood of deciduous trees such as oak (Quercus ilex, Quercus suber), pistachio and chestnut.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
The species completes its life cycle in two to three years, with adults emerging in summer.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
Adults can be seen from June through August.
Source: Wikipedia
More photos
Questions people ask
When are adult heart longhorn beetles active?
Adults are active from June to August.
Source: Wikipedia
What do the larvae of the heart longhorn beetle eat?
Larvae develop in decaying wood of oak, cork oak, pistachio and chestnut trees.
Source: Wikipedia
What flowers do these beetles visit?
They commonly visit flowers of the carrot family (Apiaceae) to feed on pollen and nectar.
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/Stictoleptura_cordigera
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 2026-10-22.