Trichoferus pallidus (Olivier, 1790)

Subfamilia: CERAMBYCINAE  /  Tribus: HESPEROPHANINI
Trichoferus pallidus
[Photo © M.Hoskovec]
Trichoferus pallidus
[Photo © M.Hoskovec]




In Central Europe Trichoferus pallidus is a very rare and almost monophagous species. It develops in oaks (Quercus spp.), only very occasionally in Tilia or Fagus. Larvae feed subcortically in dead standing trunks or thick branches, creating broad shallow galleries and later they build a pupal cell in the bark or in the sapwood. Trichoferus pallidus is a nocturnal species and is attracted to light.

Body length:10 - 20 mm
Life cycle:2 - 3 years
Adults in:June - July
Host plant:polyphagous in deciduous trees, but prefers oak (Quercus)
Distribution:Central and West Europe, Crimea, North Caucaus


The beetles in the pictures were reared from larvae found under the bark of a dead standing Austrian oak (Quercus cerris) in a south Moravian (Czech Republic) locality near Břeclav town.

Collected by M.Hoskovec


Trichoferus pallidus
[Photo © M.Hoskovec]

Subfamilia: Cerambycinae Latreille, 1802
Tribus: Hesperophanini Mulsant, 1839
Genus: Trichoferus Wollaston, 1854
Species: Trichoferus pallidus (Olivier, 1790)