Strangalia maculate (Linnaeus, 1758) commonly known as “Harlequin Longhorn”
Family: Cerambycidae,
A family of more than 20,000 beetles world-wide, about seventy species live in the United Kingdom. Strangalia maculate is an attractively coloured yellow and black beetle, with very long antennae; being longer on the male.
To most birds, the yellow and black markings help them to be mistaken for wasps; so not so many end up as prey.
Length; 13 to 20mm
Flight time: May to September
Habitat: Mainly found in hedgerows and along woodland margins, where the adults are most often seen feeding on Hawthorn and umbel flowers, particularly the pollen and leaves. The larvae can live up to two to three years and are polyphagous (able to live on various kinds of food) and live in rotting deciduous tree stumps. The adult beetle’s life is much shorter and will not live longer than a month or so.
Common and widespread in the U.K. but less common the more north you go.