Bug of the Month: February 2008 – Longhorned Borer Beetle: Tragidion peninsularum

danielj

January 31st, 2008 at 1:00 am

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I have a strange bug
I found him in my backyard, in Murrieta California. Do you know who he is?
Linda

tragidion linda Bug of the Month: February 2008 Longhorned Borer Beetle: Tragidion peninsularum

Hi Linda,
My is this photo positively gorgeous, and the beetle itself is equally stunning. We finally located a matching image on BugGuide from Arizona, Tragidion annulatum. Margarethe Brummermann posted the following comment: “If I read the source correctly annulatum was the original name and is still used for the Southwest population, whereas peninsulare is a later split-off for the California and Baja populations.” We then followed a link to an image of Tragidion peninsularum. We are happy identifying your specimen as Trigidion peninsularum unless we are proven wrong. It is also the end of the month and time to select a Bug of the Month for February. We like to post timely sightings for that honor that will help readers with seasonal identifications. This species is a first for our site, and perhaps there will be additional sightings in California this year, so we are thrilled to make your Tragidion peninsularum the Bug of the Month for February 2008. We will write to Eric Eaton in the hopes that he will confirm this identification, and perhaps add some relevant information.

Hi, Daniel:
I can’t make a call on the longhorned beetle, other than to say the genus and gender are both correct….
Eric