Nemozoma elongatum (Linnaeus, 1761)

This is a generally common species in southern and central Europe which extends very sporadically north to the UK, southern Norway and central Sweden and Finland; it also occurs in North Africa from Tunisia east to Syria and extends east into Ukraine and Russia. Here it is a very local and rare insect of southern and central England north to Nottingham but there are very few modern records and its status is unknown. The typical habitat is established woodland with plenty of old decaying timber, in the south and in lowland situations generally in deciduous species but at higher altitudes and in the north mostly in conifers; both adults and larvae live under bark and are associated with the galleries of other beetles, especially scolytids and ptinids, on which they prey. There is a single generation each year with larvae developing through the summer under bark, on the continent they have been observed feeding on larvae and pupae of Scolytus spp. and Hypoborus ficus Erichson, 1836 (both Scolytinae). Adults have a long season, from very early in the year until October or November, although records from late in the year probably represent new-generation adults which will overwinter and become active early the following year, they peak in the spring, between April and June, and disperse by flight during the day, often forming swarms in woodland situations but where they are common, at least in southern Europe, may be found on fences and houses etc. Adults are generally nocturnal and need to be looked for on the surface of wood but they have also been sampled in flight-interception and alcohol traps, at least on the continent.