Europe eastwards into western Asia; records are concentrated in temperate habitats.
Fine-art photographic collection
Anaglyptus mysticus
A flower-visiting adult that spends its youth buried inside fire-scorched wood.
About this species
Anaglyptus mysticus(Linnaeus, 1758)
Information reviewed15 July 2026
Anaglyptus mysticus changes habitat completely during its life. Its larvae tunnel for roughly two years through very dry dead broad-leaved wood, while the patterned adults emerge in spring and feed openly on blossom.
Taxonomy
Animalia · Arthropoda · Insecta · Coleoptera · Cerambycidae · Anaglyptus
Accepted species or infraspecific taxon in the current GBIF/Catalogue of Life treatment; unsupported details have been omitted rather than inferred. · checked 2026-07-15
Europe and western AsiaBroad documented range and selected occurrence localities — not a complete occurrence map.
Woodland, hedgerows and old trees containing dead or dying broad-leaved wood.
Adults are mainly seen in spring and early summer.
Larvae develop in dead or weakened wood; adults may visit flowers.
Solitary.
What makes this species remarkable?
The larva can spend about two years inside dead wood before the adult beetle appears for a flight season lasting only a few months.
It is unusually associated with extremely dry timber, including branches and trunks scorched by fire.
After a hidden childhood inside wood, the adult switches to feeding on flowers and is especially often found on hawthorn blossom.
Sources and scientific references
More photographs
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