 |
| Great capricorn beetle Cerambyx cerdo, Slovenian Karst, 16th July 2016. Male and female copulating - note male's longer antennae. Also visible are the copulating organs (4th pic). |
 |
| Holes in a dead oak made by the capricorn beetle, Slovenian Karst, 16th July 2016. |
 |
| Habitat of the capricorn beetle, Slovenian Karst, 16th July 2016. |
 |
| Quercus petraea, Slovenian Karst, 16th July 2016. |
 |
| Quercus cerris, Slovenian Karst, 16th July 2016. |
A few days ago I went looking for this Natura 2000 beetle in some oak woods on the Slovenian Karst, near Sežana. Adult Great capricorn beetles Cerambyx cerdo emerge in June and July and live for a few weeks. Now is the perfect time to observe them, especially along woodland edges and on larger oak trees. Here is a short video of the two I observed. They are quite impressive beetles, measuring up to 6 centimeters (excluding the long antennae) and live mostly on different oak species. It is important that the trees are old and have some dead wood as well, where the beetles can excavate their characteristic oval holes (see pics above). In Slovenia this is a scarce species and has greatly declined on an international level, because of habitat loss (cutting of large oaks and oak forests).
