Lepturobosca virens (Linnaeus, 1758)

This very local and sporadic species occurs throughout much of the Palaearctic region from the Pyrenees to the far east of Russia, China and Japan, in Europe it extends north to the Arctic Circle in Fennoscandia and south to Italy and parts of the Balkan Peninsula but the distribution is discontinuous and it is absent from some of the Baltic countries and most of the Mediterranean islands. It remains on the UK list from a few 19thCentury records from the Forest of Dean and it may also have occurred in Scotland but there are no recent records and the species is thought to be long extinct. Across most of the range it is a boreal-conifer forest species occurring to the highest extent of the tree-line and at these higher altitudes it may be locally common but it also occurs in lowland conifer forests at higher latitudes e.g. in Fennoscandia it is most frequently recorded in the far north. Across Europe it is usually associated with Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) and further east with Siberian pine (P. sibirica Du Tour) but various firs (Abies Mill.) and spruces (Picea Mill.) also occasionally host the species. Adults are active over a short season from late June until early August, they are diurnal and fly well, spending much of their time visiting a wide range of flowers, mostly umbels and various compositae but also on trees and shrubs such as elderberry (Sambucus L.) or rowan (Sorbus L.) where they feed on pollen and nectar. Mating occurs through the season and females oviposit among bark or in cracks of stumps and fallen trunks, usually visiting a series of sites to do so. Larvae initially feed under healthy bark, avoiding soft or decayed areas, but soon begin to bore long and shallow galleries between the bark and xylem which may become very extensive but they do not enter the xylem, they develop over two or three years and pupate beneath the bark during May or June.