title: Xylophagus ater
text: # Xylophagus ater
  
  Xylophagus ater is a species of awl fly belonging to the family Xylophagidae found in Central Europe and North Europe.
  
  ## Description
  
  The basal segment of the antenna is long, the length at least three times the width. In males the mesonotum is finely sculptured, shining, with two inconspicuous stripes of golden hairs. Females have three pollinose stripes on the mesonotum. The body length is 8 to 15 millimeters.
  
  ## Biology
  
  Larvae of Xylophagus ater are predatory. They feed on beetle larvae of the families Cerambycidae and Pyrochroidae which develop in dead branches of a wide variety of broadleaved trees.
  
  