''Aridaeus thoracicus'', the tiger longicorn, is a common beetle found in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. An attractively marked insect with orange and black patterns, the

femur The femur (; ), or thigh bone, is the proximal bone of the hindlimb in tetrapod vertebrates. The head of the femur articulates with the acetabulum in the pelvic bone forming the hip joint, while the distal part of the femur articulates with ...

of each leg is swollen in the middle. Orange hairs may be noticed on the legs and

thorax The thorax or chest is a part of the anatomy of humans, mammals, and other tetrapod animals located between the neck and the abdomen. In insects, crustaceans, and the extinct trilobites, the thorax is one of the three main divisions of the cre ...

.Australian Insects - John Child, page 92. Library of Congress Catalog Card 6822996 It was described by Anglo-Irish naturalist

Edward Donovan Edward Donovan (1768 – 1 February 1837) was an Anglo-Irish writer, natural history illustrator, and amateur zoologist. He did not travel, but collected, described and illustrated many species based on the collections of other naturalists. Hi ...

in 1805. In the warmer months, adults are seen on flowering plants, feeding on the pollen and nectar, particularly those in the myrtle family. Larvae feed on dead wood of a variety of trees.

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Heteropsini Insects of Australia Beetles described in 1805 {{Heteropsini-stub