Panel 4 - In the Dead Wood

Only dead wood? Not at all! There’s life bustling everywhere: lizards, beetles, wild bees, birds... The old wood provides valuable living space for countless species. The larvae of the Alpine longhorn beetle, for example, spend between 3 and 4 years in the dead wood of fallen beech or mountain maple trunks before they develop into adult beetles.

Such empty beetle boreholes are often reused in the following years by various wild bees and insects to create brood chambers. Birds like the black woodpecker love to peck in the wood for energy-rich beetle larvae, and in the shade, lizards lie in wait for a coveted wild bee.

We have set up a real open-air cinema for you here: a species-rich deadwood garden that is not as dead as it may appear at first glance. So take your time and patiently observe the old wood, and you will surely find a few little friends there quickly!

Together for Diversity

Cross-Border Species Protection

The most beautiful and well-known beetle of the Alps is the rare and protected in Europe Alpine Longhorn Beetle – one of the largest native beetles overall. Its backward-curved antennae resemble the horns of a IBEX – hence the name.

Together with the Research and Teaching Institute of the Alpine Zoo Innsbruck (FLI), the Tyrolean Provincial Museums, the Austrian Federal Forests, Castle Tratzberg, and the Province of Tyrol, a special species conservation project was developed with the Swedish zoo Nordens Ark: in July 2019, a small group of Alpine Longhorn Beetles traveled from the Tyrolean Karwendel to Sweden. There, they are now being bred as part of a research project and will be released back into the nature reserve to support the native species population. It is essential to raise awareness about the importance of deadwood-rich forests – not only for woodpeckers & Co but also as a habitat for the insect world!

Close-up of a bee sitting on pink flowers.

THE OCHRE YELLOW

Yellow-band Furrow Bee

– Halictus scabiosae –

Characteristics: slender, up to 14 mm in size, prominent ochre-colored stripes on the abdomen, a collector of pollen
Habitat: dry and warm areas such as sand and clay pits, open forest edges, also found in settled areas, fallow lands, and parks
Behavior: Mated females overwinter together in their birth nest. In spring, one individual takes on the queen role, lays eggs, and guards the nest entrance. The worker females care for the brood but are driven out by the queen before the new bees hatch. They then establish their own nests in self-dug tunnels up to 30 cm deep in sparsely vegetated soil (behavior as a solitary/nesting species).
Observation tip: primarily on composite flowers such as arnica, alpine goldenrod, daisies, and dandelions, also on bindweed and thistle species such as the native thistle
Observation period: April to October

A fuzzy insect on a rock, showing black and white coloration.

THE EARLY

Willow Sand Bee

– Andrena vaga –

Characteristics: 15 mm large, black with striking gray-white hairy chest, leg collector
Habitat: sand, gravel, and clay pits, embankments, and gardens
Life style: They live solitarily, in small to large communities, build earthen nests preferably in sandy soil and collect only willow pollen for their offspring – hence the name!
Observation tip: specialized in willows
Observation period: February to May

Willows are one of the most important spring flowers. Wild and honey bees, as well as butterflies like the lemon butterfly, depend on this first nectar source.

A bee on bright yellow flowers, inspecting the blossoms.

THE SHIMMERING

Emerald Green Narrow Bee

– Lasioglossum morio –

Characteristics: Males 10 mm, females 7 to 8 mm, narrow, greenish shimmering body, about 70 (hard to distinguish) different species of the narrow bee
Habitat: Various habitats, including gardens and parks
Way of Life: They live solitary (solitary), but form social colonies in their habitat and build self-dug nests in the soil or clay walls.
Observation Tip: Frequently found on dandelion, bellflower, buttercup
Observation Time: From April

A black and white insect on wooden bark with long antennae.

THE BEECH LOVER

Alpine Longhorn Beetle

– Rosalia alpina –

Characteristics: 15 to 38 mm (noticeably large), colored gray to light blue, elytra with a typical black pattern, loves warmth, male antennae twice the length of the body, remotely reminiscent of a chamois
Habitat: sunny, dry deciduous and mixed mountain forests with beech tree populations, especially likes windfall and avalanche slopes with a high proportion of deadwood
Life cycle: The larvae develop over 2 to 5 years in the dead wood of beeches. Hatched beetles live for only a few weeks after mating. Human "orderly zeal" (e.g., the removal of dead wood) increasingly deprives the longhorn beetle of breeding sites. The more "messy" a forest is, the higher the chance of seeing this rare animal.
Observation tip: on calm, sunny days near its breeding sites
Observation time: June to September

Find natural deadwood areas!

Now keep your eyes open on the remaining educational path and in the forests on the plateau: Can you find deadwood areas that provide habitats for wild bees and beneficial insects?