Barbitistes constrictus Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1878

Nutrition:
Both coniferous and broad-leaved woods, as larva also forbs.

Habitat:
Barbitistes constrictus mostly inhabits coniferous and mixed woodlands, but is also able to penetrate into adjacent grasslands or gardes if there are at least single junipers, pines or spruces.

Life cycle:
The larvae are easily found by beating on young spruce, but also brooms, Vaccinium, other bushes in spring between April and June. The imagines live usually high in the trees and are seldom observed, especially after storms in the autumn or on lower branches. I recorded such a female on a Lonicera bush on the foot of an old spruce near Kleinziegenfeld (N-Bavaria) on 23. September 2023.
So the best detection methods are beating in spring and BAT-Detector surveys of the song in summer and early autumn. Oviposition usually occurs in cracky bark.

Remarks:
Barbitistes constrictus occurs from central across eastern Europeb to western Russia. In the south the Balkans are reached (Bulgaria). The western border crosses Germany with main distribution in Bavaria, Saxony and Thuringia.

Hints on determination:
The males are more easily distinguished from Barbitistes serricauda by their cerci which are considerably thickened in the middle. They are in total also thicker as in serricauda. The females have a longer ovipositor compared to the length of the pronotum, but this is not so easily judged in my opinion.