Wasp Beetle ©Penny Frith

Wasp beetle

A clever mimic, the wasp beetle is black-and-yellow and moves in a jerky, flight-like fashion - fooling predators into thinking it is actually a more harmful common wasp. Look for it in hedgerows and woods in summer.

Enw gwyddonol

Clytus arietis

Pryd i'w gweld

May to July

Species information

Ystadegau

Length: 1.6cm

Common.

Ynghylch

The wasp beetle is a small, narrow-bodied longhorn beetle. The larvae live in warm, dry, dead wood, such as fence posts and dead branches, and particularly favour willow and birch. The adults can be found feeding on flowers along woodland rides and hedgerows during the summer. The wasp beetle lives up to its name by mimicking the common wasp in both colouration and in its behaviour, moving in a jerky fashion similar to a wasp's flight. This mimicry keeps it safe from predators, even though it is actually harmless

Sut i'w hadnabod

The wasp beetle is black with yellow bands on the body, and relatively short antennae. There are several other black-and-yellow longhorn beetles, but most have more pointed bodies and longer antennae.