Longhorn on the Giant Fennel
Out in the countryside in Matera in Italy, the dry heat and the scent of herbs surrounds us. I particularly love the impressive flower stalks of Giant Fennel, Ferula communis.
On a stalk I notice a longhorn beetle:
I love longhorn beetles. I found my first when I was 21 years old and was very excited to find it was an introduced species, coming into the UK with Norwegian wood (and I mean wood from Norway and not the Beatles song).
This is a different species to that one, which I’ve seen here before, but not identified previously.
It’s relatively small compared to some of the 6cm ones you can find in Italy. This one is Agapanthia irrorata:
Isn’t it a little bit special?
It lives in the north of Africa and the south of Europe.
And also in my heart.
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