Adults are approximately 9–16 mm long.
Fine-art photographic collection
Trichodes flavocinctus
A flower visitor whose bright adult stage hides a larval life spent attacking the sealed nests of bees.
About this species
Trichodes flavocinctusSpinola, 1844
Information reviewed15 July 2026
Trichodes flavocinctus is a western Mediterranean and North African checkered beetle. Adults visit flowers and may take pollen or small insects; the predatory larvae develop in nests of solitary Hymenoptera.
Taxonomy
Animalia · Arthropoda · Insecta · Coleoptera · Cleridae · Trichodes
Accepted taxon. · checked 2026-07-15
Iberia, southern France, Corsica and North Africa including Morocco and AlgeriaBroad range and selected reference localities — not a complete occurrence map.
Iberia, southern France, Corsica and North Africa including Morocco and Algeria
Flower-rich dry grassland, scrub, field margins and open woodland.
Adults active on flowers in spring and summer.
Adults take pollen and small insects; larvae prey on bee or wasp brood and provisions.
Solitary.
What makes this species remarkable?
The adult advertises itself on flowers with yellow bands and dark markings, yet its offspring enter bee or wasp nests and feed on the concentrated brood and stored provisions hidden inside.
This creates a two-stage ecological reversal: the adult can function as a flower visitor while the larva becomes a concealed predator or parasitoid inside another pollinator’s nursery.
The species spans both sides of the western Mediterranean, so a beetle described by Spinola in 1844 links Iberian flower communities with Morocco and Algeria across a sea barrier.
Sources and scientific references
- GBIF — taxon record/search for Trichodes flavocinctus
- Catalogue of Life — taxon search for Trichodes flavocinctus
- Fauna Europaea-linked range and synonymy of Trichodes flavocinctus
- French Trichodes biology — adults on flowers and larvae in Hymenoptera nests
- North African and Iberian survey records for Trichodes flavocinctus