Stenocorus meridianus (Linnaeus, 1758)

This species occurs throughout Central and Southern Europe, from the Mediterranean north to the UK and southern provinces of Scandinavia and from France east through the Caucasus, Kazakhstan and Russia to lake Baikal, here it is widespread and locally common throughout England north to the Humber and more sporadic and local further north to the Scottish border, in Wales it is mostly absent from the west and it does not occur in Ireland. Through much of mainland Europe it has declined in recent decades due to ignorant woodland management and in many northern areas it is now rare, in central Europe it occurs mostly in foothills and low mountain habitats; in the Alps up to 2200m. The typical habitat is open or fragmented broadleaf woodland with plenty of marginal vegetation, often in areas exposed to the sun and hosting a variety of flowers. Adults have a short season, generally June and July although during a warm spring they may be active from mid-May and in some years they persist until August. They are active in bright sun; early in the season they visit flowers, especially various Apiaceae, Rosaceae and Compositae, where they feed on pollen in order to mature, and at this time they may be seen in numbers both in flight and on flowerheads, occasionally pairs may be seen mating on flowers but this usually occurs on the ground or low down on trunks. Hosts include a wide range of broadleaf species e.g. oaks, elms, birches, willows, ash, poplars and alder, they have also been recorded from fruit trees in orchards and gardens, and it is thought that the age and condition of the wood, or perhaps the presence of fungi is more important in deciding a host than the species. Females oviposit in the soil next to decaying stumps, fallen timber or among roots and may move between sites to do so, larvae enter the wood and feed initially under bark, but larger larvae also penetrate the xylem , development takes two or three years and fully-grown larvae measure 3.5-4.0cm. Developing larvae have been recorded from roots with a diameter between 0.5 and 6.5cm. Pupation occurs in a cell between among decayed wood or in the soil between 5 and 10 cm below the surface and although adults may eclose during the autumn or winter they remain in the cell until the spring, in general though it is thought that pupation occurs in early spring in response to increasing temperature. Adults are very distinctive and easily seen on flowers or as they fly slowly around trees or umbels in the sunshine, otherwise they remain on trunks or among foliage and may occasionally be swept.