Pogonocherus hispidulus (Piller & Mitterpacher, 1783)

Locally common from lowlands to lower mountain altitudes and generally distributed throughout Europe from Portugal to Greece and Asia Minor in the south and north to the UK, Denmark and southern provinces of Sweden and Norway, it occurs on most of the Mediterranean islands, to the east it reaches the Urals and there are records from North Africa. In the UK it is generally common across southern and central England and Wales and rather less so further north to the Scottish Highlands and in Northern Ireland. The species is associated with a wide range of trees and shrubs in almost any situation; usually in broadleaf woodland and wooded parkland but also on heaths, wasteland and domestic gardens etc. Hosts include alder buckthorn (Frangula Mill.), alder (Alnus Mill.), birch (Betula L.), willows (Salix L.), hazel (Corylus L.), apple (Malus Mill.), Hornbeam (Carpinus L.), oak (Quercus L.), holly (Ilex L.), spindle (Euonymus L.), shadbush (Amelanchier Medik), Viburnum L., beech (Fagus L.), hawthorn (Crataegus Tourn.), Elder (Sambucus L.), walnut (Juglans L.), mistletoes (Viscum L.), and much less often and usually in Northern Europe on various conifers including larch (Larix Mill.) and pine (Pinus L.). Adults are present year-round; they are active from March until September and peak in abundance during May and June. Mating occurs in spring and early summer and females oviposit among bark on weakened or recently dead small branches or twigs, usually up to 2 cm in diameter. Larvae develop under bark producing long and often branched galleries in the xylem, they overwinter and complete their development through the following year and pupate in from July although exceptionally they may complete their development in a single summer. Adults are fully formed by late summer; most will remain in their pupal chambers to overwinter and emerge in the spring but many will emerge and become active in late summer or autumn, producing a peak during September or October. These late adults may overwinter under bark but they are sometimes recorded from litter beneath host trees and shrubs. Adults may be beaten or swept from foliage through the warmer months but early in the year, from January, they may be found at night on trunks and fence posts etc., sometimes in numbers.