Alpine longhorn beetle

The extraordinarily long antennae of the male alpine longhorn beetle (Rosalia alpina) can be more than twice its body length. They also use the antennae to show off against rivals and to defend “their” females.

Foto Wikimedia, CCO 1.0

The alpine longhorn beetle is the undisputed beauty king among our beetles

The alpine longhorn beetle spends most of its life hidden in beech deadwood. There it lives as a larva for about 2 to 4 years, then pupates and finally squeezes itself into the open as a hatched beetle. With its characteristic light blue-black pattern, the alpine longhorn beetle is unmistakable. Its extraordinarily long antennae distinguish it as a representative of the longhorn beetle. It grows up to 4 cm long and lives only for 3 to 4 weeks after hatching. During this short time it comes to the mating. The females use old and sunny beech deadwood for laying their eggs, but unfortunately also firewood from time to time. This has fatal consequences, as the larvae are burned before they can develop to their full potential. Therefore it is all the more important to leave sunny beech deadwood in place for years or make it available in a targeted manner.