Great Capricorn Beetle (female)

Description:

It's about 6-8 cm. Lighting conditions were very bad and I'm not able to photograph it well. I found it in a pine forest. The length is 5-11 cm. The body is deep black, except the apex of the elytra, more or less reddish. The body surface is covered by a fine silvery pubescence, generally not visible. The antennas are gnarled from the 5th segment, exceeding the body length in males and in females can match. As in all Cerambycoidea, the smaller males have antennae less developed, and these can reach a length of 11-12 cm in the largest specimens. The chest is fitted laterally two plugs, short and obtuse in the western subspecies, but sharp in the eastern subspecies acuminatus. The surface of the thorax is more or less shiny and covered with wrinkles more or less regular, depending on the subspecies or populations. The elytra, finely granular and more or less pubescent, acuminate apex in males and are more or less parallel in females. The males of the subspecies mirbeckii have elytra similar to females.

Habitat:

This species is widespread in much of Europe (Excluding: Azores, Canary Islands, Cyprus, Denmark, Ireland, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Scandinavia, Baltic States and Russia). The range also includes North Africa (where there is a widespread subspecies C.cerdo mirbeckii (Lucas, 1842)), the Caucasus, Turkey, Iran, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Israel.

Notes:

The depletion of forest habitats (fires and removal of diseased or dead plants) determines a threat to its survival. In Italy, the species is vulnerable according to the IUCN classification. The species is also present in Annexes 2 (Animal and plant species of community interest whose conservation requires the designation of special areas of conservation) and 4 (Animal and plant species of Community interest in need of strict protection) of the Habitats Directive 92 / 43/CEE.