Adults are about 14–22 mm long.
Fine-art photographic collection
Lepturobosca virens
A mountain longhorn whose green “fur” conceals a black body and whose larvae tunnel only through a narrow zone inside dead conifers.
About this species
Lepturobosca virens(Linnaeus, 1758)
Information reviewed15 July 2026
Lepturobosca virens is a northern Eurasian longhorn beetle. Adults are densely clothed in green-grey hairs and visit flowers; larvae develop in dead conifer wood, especially fir, pine and spruce.
Taxonomy
Animalia · Arthropoda · Insecta · Coleoptera · Cerambycidae · Lepturobosca
Accepted taxon. · checked 2026-07-15
Northern and montane EurasiaBroad range and selected reference localities — not a complete occurrence map.
Northern and montane Eurasia
Montane to subalpine conifer forest, often near fallen trunks and flower-rich clearings.
Adults fly and feed in summer sunshine.
Pollen and nectar as adults; dead conifer wood as larvae.
Solitary.
What makes this species remarkable?
The green appearance comes from dense hair covering a black exoskeleton; the beetle is effectively wearing a microscopic fur coat rather than possessing green armour.
Larvae reject both the soft rotting outer wood and the hard heartwood, tunnelling through a precise band of deeper sapwood where moisture and decay are suitable.
Climate models predict severe loss of suitable habitat in parts of the eastern Alps, making this cold-adapted beetle a living indicator of how mountain climate zones are shifting uphill.