Best time to see: May to end Jul

Key facts

A strikingly marked longhorn beetle

Habitat: in and around woodland

Found all over Britain

Recognition

Black with yellow bands, orange legs and long antennae; length 1 cm

Feeds on the nectar and pollen of flowers, with quick jerky movements and flying from flower to flower

Mimic wasps in their behaviour and flight to deter predators

Lifecycle

Females search out dead and decaying timber to lay their eggs, and the larvae spend two years there feeding on dead wood

Pupae form in a cell inside the wood, emerging as beetles after about a few weeks but remaining there until spring

Beetles live a further two to four months and are most usually seen in May or June