The genus name "Morimus" derives from the Greek word "μόριμος" or "mórimos", meaning "destined to die", while the Latin species name "asper" (meaning "rough") refers to the surface of the elytra.

This large and massive longhorn beetle has a black, elongated and oval body with very short, gray-brown hair and elytra are grainy over the entire surface.

The subspecies Morimus asper funereus has gray-blue elytra with dark spots.

This species is widespread in southwestern, south and southeastern Europe (Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Corsica, Croatia, France, Georgia, Greece, Iran, Italy, Montenegro, Romania, Russia, Sardinia, Sicily, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, Belarus and Ukraine), and Turkmenistan.

In Spain it occupies the northern fringe between the provinces of Aragon, Asturias, Burgos, Catalonia, Navarre and the Basque Country.