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Corymbia rubra

In most beetle species the male and the female are almost identical. In a few cases however there are striking differences between the two, like in Corymbia rubra, a species common on flowers in gardens. The male is slender, brownish and has a black neck shield. It seldomly reaches a length of over 15 mm. The female is bigger and more plumb, reaching some 20 mm in length regularly. She is reddish, including het neck shield. Actually they do look like two separate species! The species is very rare in the UK, for the foodplants of its larvae are not indigenous in Britain.

Corymbia rubra is likely to visit the flowers in your garden, provided there are coniferous trees in the vicinity. The larvae live in dead wood or tree stumps of various coniferous trees exclusively. This is a common species in most of Europe, Northern Africa and northern parts of Asia. It also has been introduced in Northern America. Curiously enough it is a rare and local species in Britain, present in southern parts of England only.

Corymbia rubra is still often referred to by either of its former scientific names: Leptura rubra or Stictoleptura rubra.