Black & Yellow Longhorn Beetle

I recently posted images of a Longhorn Beetle I found in my garden and said that I expected to see at least one more species there. This is it, referred to variously as Rutpela maculata or Strangalia maculata (in old references). It larvae live in the wood of various trees.

I was walking along our garden path when I saw the unmistakable shape of a Longhorn beetle on a redcurrant leaf. By the time I had my camera it had gone but I relocated it nearby, on a rhubarb leaf. I got some shots there until it flew back in the direction it came from, to land on a blackcurrant leaf, where I completed the session.

This species is more helpful to the photographer than most flying insects which land on leaves. It tends to chose exposed, outer leaves, sometimes inflorescences, giving good line of sight. This is one of the Flower Longhorns. It is up to 20mm long.

I have cloned out some distracting areas of dead, brown leaf.

EM-1 (manual mode), Kiron 105mm, f16, twin flash. (I tried some daylight shots but they were not sharp enough).

Harold