Gaurotes virginea

Blue Bock ( Carilia virginea )

The blue block ( Carilia virginea, formerly Gaurotes virginea ) is a beetle of the family of longhorn beetles ( Cerambycidae ).

Description

The beetles are 9 to 12 millimeters long. They are very stocky for longhorn beetles and have the back round, green or blue shiny metallic elytra. The pronotum is black, rust red or black with rust-red stain.

Occurrence

They come everywhere in Europe, not only in the Southwest, especially in the mountains of southern and central Germany frequently. In the north they are rare and found in Siberia, Mongolia, Manchuria, Korea and Sakhalin.

Way of life

The larvae live in pine or spruce. Pupation they dig into the earth. The beetles appear from May to August and especially in June and fly to flowers.