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Rhagium mordax · dygusis ragijus

EN · black-spotted longhorn beetle DE · Schwarzfleckiger Zangenbock LT · dygusis ragijus LV · lapkoku ligzdu koksngrauzis PL · rębacz szary

ukbeetles.co.uk/rhagium-mordax The females will oviposit on a range of dying and decaying deciduous and broadleaf trees e.g. oak, chestnut, alder, birch, beech, ash, lime, hornbeam, pine and spruce among many others, standing as well as fallen timer and old stumps are chosen and eggs are laid among crevices and cracks in the bark, usually in areas where the wood has started to decay and become soft. Larvae develop through the summer forming shallow galleries under the bark and rarely entering the xylem, development usually takes two years though in unfavourable condition can be extended to three years, they are said to be very active and will attempt to bite if handled. Pupation occurs beneath the bark in August or September and for this the larva prepares an intricate oval cell of wood fibres around a depression in the xylem, this stage is brief, and adults emerge in the autumn, they soon become hardened and pigmented but they remain in the cell to overwinter and emerge the following spring.