Rhagium mordax

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Pakor, 13.08.2006 6:39

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From the photo gallery Pavel Korzunovich

Black-spotted ragweed Rhagium mordax (Cerambycidae) is one of the most widespread barbels in the forest zone of the European part of Russia and Western Siberia (family Cerambycidae). Covered with greenish-gray hairs, length 15-30 mm. Another characteristic feature of the genus is the spiny tubercles on the sides of the pronotum. Large black eyes are clearly visible.

The elytra are decorated with two yellow bandages and a black spot between them.

Ragweed larvae live under the bark of dead trees. There they gnaw through irregular moves. The larva is blind, with a white fat body and a broad flattened head; on the head — large black jaws.

In autumn, the larva prepares a cradle for itself: a wide but shallow hole in the bark, surrounded by wood fibers. In this cradle, it pupates. In the rhagia pupa, all parts of the adult beetle are visible: antennae, legs, and wings. Such a pupa is called an open one. It retains a fairly high mobility and can even crawl.

Description from the site Russian Nature