The Alpine bearded beetle (Rosalia alpina) is one of the rare species of old beech foothill and mountain forests. The blue-black coloration of the beard provides good camouflage on grayish beech trunks. The condition for its occurrence is a sufficient amount of dead, drying wood in beech forests, in which females lay eggs. The development of larvae lasts 2-3 years, adult bearded beetles can be seen flying in July-August.
The Alpine bearded beetle is threatened by intensive logging in old beech forests, the removal of dead wood from stands and the replacement of original beech stands with other tree species. An ecological trap for adult bearded beetles is the harvested beech wood left in forest warehouses in the summer months. For female bearded beetles, such wood is a suitable place to lay eggs at the time of breeding. However, the successful development of the larvae, which lasts for several years, will no longer take place, as the wood mass will be removed from the area and further processed.
The Alpine bearded beetle is a protected, priority species of European importance.
