Cucujus cinnaberinus

With a scarlet red back and a black underside, I am a flat bark beetle measuring between 11 and 15.5 mm long.

I enjoy a varied diet both at the larvae and adult stages. I eat woody fibers as well as fungi and invertebrates found in the bark of trees.

Mating occurs around April-May. I lay my eggs under the bark. The larvae stage lasts for two years.

Living under the bark of dead or dying trees, I have a preference for poplar and willow trees. I am therefore associated with the alluvial forest.

Adults are active from April to May. However, the beetles live under the tree bark so are not easy to spot.

I featured in the list of protected species in France before being discovered nationwide.

You might mistake me for other species in the Cucujus genus or other beetles with red [1] elytra.

[1] Elytron: a hardened, cornified forewing that at rest covers the hindwings of certain insects, notably those in the Coleoptera order.

Although there is no national or regional red list for beetles, I am considered very rare in France.
2014 is the year my rediscovery was confirmed in France. The finding was made in the Rhine forests, notably in the forests around Strasbourg and Wantzenau.