This is a post about the Spotted Longhorn Beetle just because there are a lot of them about at the moment plus…
I was looking for a female specimen to show you the difference and I just found one. So lets start with what is the difference?
Well that picture just about covers it. The male Spotted Longhorn has a sort of spur on his hind tibia and the female doesn’t. Click on it to enlarge it if you are not sure.
It is wonderful to understand these differences and to know about the animal that you are looking at it will make you feel great when you see a Spotted Longhorn and know whether it is Sally or Sam and it took me ages to find a female. (You need sharp eyes)
So here are a few pictures of a male Spotted Longhorn that I took a couple of days ago.
I thought that this next one was female until I got the pictures home, the first two clearly show that it is a male.
Sorry, back you go. You are not what I am looking for.
Then finally after a long days searching I found what I wanted. This next one is a beautiful female Rutpela maculata with immaculate slender tibia to match.
It is silly really but when there is an obvious difference between the sexes I like to get both of them and these little things are important.
A Tramp in the Woods 