Musk beetle
Aromia moschata (Linné, 1758)
Status not recordedbeetles
The musk beetle (Aromia moschata) is a living insect of the beetle subgroup, placed in the family Cerambycidae, subfamily Cerambycinae and tribe Callichromatini. It belongs to the order Coleoptera, suborder Polyphaga and superfamily Chrysomeloidea, within the class Insecta and phylum Arthropoda.
Quick facts about the musk beetle
Its scientific name carries the authority (Linné, 1758), and it is placed in the genus Aromia. Checklists record it in countries including Albania, Austria, China, France, Germany, Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation, Sierra Leone, Spain, Sweden, Türkiye, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.
- Weight
- Not recorded
- Length
- 1.3 cm – 3.4 cmsrc for Length
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Nectarivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- flowerssrc for Main food
- Habitat
- forest, freshwater, wetlandsrc for Habitat
- Young per litter or clutch
- Not recorded
- Conservation status
- Not recorded
- Countries on record
- 35 countriessrc for Countries on record
How big is the musk beetle?
Photos of the musk beetle
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
Where does the musk beetle live?
Countries where Catalogue of Life checklists list the species. Many checklists carry no country data, so the list is often incomplete. It is not a range map.
The musk beetle is listed for 35 countries.
- Listed
- Not listed
The same countries as a list
- Albania
- Austria
- Belgium
- Bosnia & Herzegovina
- Bulgaria
- China
- Croatia
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- Ireland
- Italy
- Kazakhstan
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Moldova
- Netherlands
- North Macedonia
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Russia
- Sierra Leone
- Slovakia
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Türkiye
- Ukraine
- United Kingdom
Listed by: TITAN (scope: global), through the Catalogue of Life.
What is the musk beetle?
The musk beetle (Aromia moschata) is a Eurasian species of longhorn beetle belonging to the subfamily Cerambycinae, tribe Callichromatini. Its name comes from the delicate musky smell it emits when menaced. The beetle has a shell with an iridescence tone that changes with the angle of view. It has a hard shell around the thorax with hard sharp spines.
From the Wikipedia article “Musk beetle” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Musk_beetle&oldid=1318775907), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the musk beetle endangered?
No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.
How is the musk beetle classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumArthropoda
- classInsecta
- orderColeoptera
- familyCerambycidae
- genusAromia
- SpeciesAromia moschata (Linné, 1758)
Synonyms Aromia alata, Aromia moschata cupreata, Aromia moschata moschata, Aromia moschata steinmanni, Aromia moschata var. auctumnalis, Aromia moschata var. cupricollis, Aromia moschata var. laevicollis, Aromia moschata var. nigra, Aromia moschata var. perroudi, Aromia moshata, Aromia thea, Callichroma moschata, Callichroma moschatum, Cerambix moschatus, Cerambyx chlorophanus, Cerambyx citrinus, Cerambyx moschatus, Terambus moschatus
Other names and names in other languages (34)
- Мусков сечкоBulgarian
- Banyarriquer del salzeCatalan
- tesařík pižmovýCzech
- MoskusbukDanish
- Stærkt lugtende langbukDanish
- MoschusbockGerman
- MuskussikkEstonian
- myskijääräFinnish
- ParfumeurFrench
- Aromie musquéeFrench
- Capricorne musquéFrench
- Capricorne vert à odeur roseFrench
- pézsmacincérHungarian
- Cerambice muschiatoItalian
- Muskusinis kvapūnasLithuanian
- Zaļais vītolgrauzisLatvian
- Zaļais vītolu koksngrauzisLatvian
- moskusbukkNorwegian Bokmål
- RozenbokDutch
- MuskusbokDutch
- MuskusboktorDutch
- RozenboktorDutch
- RozengeurboktorDutch
- WilgenboktorDutch
- Wonnica PiżmówkaPolish
- Croitorul aromatRomanian
- мускусникRussian
- Дровосек МускусныйRussian
- Мускусный усачRussian
- fuzáč pižmovýSlovak
- moškatni kozličekSlovenian
- myskbockSwedish
- Пижмиця пахучаUkrainian
- Вусач мускуснийUkrainian
Relatives of the musk beetle
Other species in the same genus Aromia.
CompareMusk beetle vs Red necked longhorn beetleMusk beetle vs Aromia malayanaMusk beetle vs Aromia orientalisMusk beetle vs Cerambix hemipterus
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the musk beetle?
The musk beetle is an insect in the beetle subgroup, belonging to the order Coleoptera and the family Cerambycidae.
What is the scientific name of the musk beetle?
The scientific name of the musk beetle is Aromia moschata, placed in the genus Aromia.
Who named the musk beetle and when?
The musk beetle was named by Linné in 1758, written as (Linné, 1758).
Which countries is the musk beetle recorded in?
Checklists record the musk beetle in countries including Albania, Austria, Belgium, China, France, Germany, Kazakhstan, Norway, Poland, the Russian Federation, Sierra Leone, Spain, Türkiye and Ukraine.
Is the musk beetle extinct?
No, the musk beetle is a living species, not extinct, according to the Catalogue of Life.
Which family does the musk beetle belong to?
The musk beetle belongs to the family Cerambycidae, in the subfamily Cerambycinae and the tribe Callichromatini.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - TraitCH: a multi-taxa functional trait dataset for Switzerland and Europe · CC BY 4.0 · 2.0
Chauvier, Y., Adde, A., Bergamini, A. et al. (2025) TraitCH: a multi-taxa functional trait dataset for Switzerland and Europe. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15063844 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Musk beetle (Aromia moschata). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/musk-beetle
“Musk beetle (Aromia moschata).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/musk-beetle.
@misc{musk_beetle_2026,
title = {Musk beetle (Aromia moschata)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/musk-beetle},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}