Greater Capricorn Beetle

• biologíaIts larvae can take several years to develop inside the wood of old trees before emerging as adults.
• It is one of the largest beetles in Europe, at up to 5.5 cm not counting antennae that in the male exceed the length of the body.
• It depends on old trees, and that is exactly its problem: modern forest management removes the mature, decaying specimens, which are the only ones of use to it.
• Its galleries, however, benefit the forest: they create microhabitats later occupied by dozens of species of insects, birds and bats. It is regarded as an engineer species of mature forests.
• It is listed as Vulnerable and protected under the European Union's Habitats Directive, in Annexes II and IV.
• The larva takes three or four years to develop inside the trunk before pupating.
• In Spain it is tied above all to the holm oak and cork oak dehesas, and its presence is an indicator of well-preserved woodland.

Skeleton type

Invertebrate - chitin exoskeleton (insect)

Habitat & environment

Old oak woods and mature broadleaf trees of Europe, North Africa and Asia Minor

Birth weight

Egg 3.74 mm long on average, laid in crevices in the bark

Size at birth

A whitish-bodied larva with reduced legs, growing large over 2-5 years of development

Sexual maturity

Reached after complete metamorphosis (no fixed age applies)

Gestation / incubation

A full life cycle of 2 to 5 years, most of it spent as a larva

Litter / clutch size

33 to 347 eggs per female (143 on average), with a fertility of 78%

Sources consulted: Cambridge Bulletin of Entomological Research; PubMed (reproductive biology study); Insect Wiki Fandom; Nordens Ark; Natural History Museum; University of Freiburg Forest Entomology; Forest Pests EU; Grokipedia; Wikipedia (Cerambyx cerdo)