Only about 3.5–6 mm long.
Fine-art photographic collection
Exocentrus lusitanus
A minute longhorn beetle that may spend two years developing inside a dead lime twig no thicker than a finger.
About this species
Exocentrus lusitanus(Linnaeus, 1767)
Information reviewed15 July 2026
Exocentrus lusitanus is a tiny European longhorn beetle associated especially with lime trees. The larvae tunnel within dry dead branches and can remain concealed there for roughly two years before the adults emerge.
Taxonomy
Animalia · Arthropoda · Insecta · Coleoptera · Cerambycidae · Exocentrus
Accepted taxon. · checked 2026-07-15
Europe and western RussiaBroad range and selected reference localities — not a complete occurrence map.
Europe and western Russia
Woodland, parks and avenues containing dead branches of lime and other broadleaved trees.
Adults are found mainly from May to August, often on host branches at dusk or night.
Larvae bore in dead dry branches; adults take little food.
Solitary.
What makes this species remarkable?
At just 3.5–6 millimetres, it carries the long antennae and wood-boring life cycle of a longhorn beetle in miniature.
A larva can remain hidden inside a dead lime branch for around two years before cutting an exit hole as an adult.
Because it breeds in small dead branches, removing every fallen or dying twig can erase an entire generation from a site.