Subject: Yellow jacket looking bug cover a standing dead tree
Location: Indiana
May 19, 2013 4:16 pm
Hey good afternoon! We had a tree die over the winter and today 5-19-13 my son was playing basketball and noticed these bugs all over the tree. Can these sting and are they harmful? Thanks from Indiana!
Signature: Trevis

Hickory Borer

Dear Trevis,
Given the spring sighting, these are Hickory Borers, Megacyllene caryae, a species that spends its larval stage boring in the recently dead wood of hickory and other hardwood trees.  A closely related species, the Locust Borer, is active in the autumn months.  It is believed the Hickory and Locust Borers mimic stinging Yellow Jackets as a form of protective camouflage.  The beetles do not sting, however they have powerful jaws that might draw blood if a person is bitten.  They are not considered dangerous.

Great info! Thank you for the identification! Have a great week!
Trevis

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Subject: Longhorn Beetle
Location: (South) San Jose, CA
April 8, 2013 12:45 am
I think this is a longhorn wood borer beetle, but not sure what exact species. I found it on my screen door today, April 7th, around 2pm in the afternoon. I saw two of these side by side last October in the evening on our 20+year old cherry tree.
The cherry tree has sap that ’bleeds’ out sometimes and holes from where woodpeckers peck occasionally. Not sure if that is useful info but it can’t hurt to know.
We also have a few privet trees, fruitless mulberry, and redwoods (our deck is also redwood)
Please note: when I handled it I did so as gently as possible so as not to harm it. I still have the beetle as I wanted to have it identified before releasing. I can submit more pics if necessary.
Signature: Jen

Synaphaeta guexi

Hi Jen,
We have identified you beetle as Synaphaeta guexi thanks to BugGuide, however there is no information on the beetle on BugGuide’s information page.  Back in 2005, Eric Eaton provided us with the common name Spotted Tree Borer for this species and indicated is bores into maple trees.  Your French Tips nicely show off this Flatfaced Borer Beetle.

Synaphaeta guexi

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Subject: Scarred the sh*t out of me!
Location: Killeen Texas
April 6, 2013 2:41 am
So it’s about 4:00 am, and I felt a tingling ticklish feeling on my left ear, so I put my hand there and it’s stops. I start falling back asleep and then I feel it running around my finger, i thought it was a spider, so I attempt to fling it off, one last time I try going back to sleep, and then I feel the same ticklish feeling on my left ear again, so I got up a basically rip off my ear, after a few minutes of looking for it I found it. I just want to know if my house is infested, this is the first time this had happened to me.
Signature: Abel

Rustic Borer

Hi Abel,
This is one of the Longhorned Borer Beetles in the family Cerambycidae.  It looks close to the Rustic Borer, Xylotrechus colonus, that is posted on BugGuide.  According to BugGuide:”Larvae feed under the bark (occasionally in the bark) of hickory and other hardwoods, also pine” and  “Often attracted to UV lights.”  Many Cerambycids are found in homes because they were inadvertently brought in with the firewood by the owner or tenant while the beetles were in the dormant stage.  The heat of the home causes them to emerge.  They will not infest your home. 

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Subject: Interesting Orange and Black Beetle Found in Ecuaodor and Arizona?
Location: San Clemente Ecuador and also one in Yuma Arizona
March 28, 2013 3:34 pm
Dear Bugman,
I recently sent in a picture of an interesting beetle. In my excitement and haste I didn’t get permission from the photographer. After re-reading the submission page I did send an email to the photographer and got their permission to use the photo to try to identify this odd beetle. I will include the information they have provided about the beetle, and send the information on to them as well because they are very curious about the insect.
My original submission: About 14 years ago I came across this odd beetle. It was Summer time in Yuma Arizona, and we were eating watermelon when this bug flew onto my plate. It was about an inch and a half long. Being 10 it freaked me out and I never did get a picture of it. I never forgot about it though. I tried very hard to identify the bug but never did find out what it was. Today I Googled ”Black and Orange Antennae” and finally found a picture of the bug I saw. So maybe now I can finally put a name to this bug with your help!
More information on the insect provided by John and Mary from their blog: The bug was found in San Clemente Ecuador. Counting the antennae the beetle was about one and one half inches long. When it was flying around it looked like a large wasp. I tried to get a close up of the head to see the eyes, but it is unclear where the eyes are. There also appears to be some hair-like growth on the face!
Any ideas? Thanks so much for your time and effort.
Signature: Nichole

Longhorned Borer Beetle

Hi Nichole,
We really doubt that the beetle you saw in Arizona is the same species as the beetle in the photo from Ecuador, but they might be in the same family.  First, thanks for getting permission from John to reproduce his photo.  John’s beetle is a Longhorned Borer Beetle or Longicorn in the family Cerambycidae, and we might be able to identify it to the species level.  There is a better database online for North American species, and while it is impossible to state with any certainty that we can identify the beetle you saw 14 years ago without photo documentation.  A similar looking beetle that is found in Arizona is Aethecerinus latecinctus which we found on BugGuide.  We will write back if and when we identify the Ecuadorean Longicorn.

Longhorned Borer Beetle

Karl provides an identification
Hi Daniel and Nichole:
My initial thought was that the Ecuadorian Cerambycid was probably in the genus Trachyderes, many of which look quite similar. Several Trachyderes species are native to Ecuador but none of them are quite right, particularly with regard to the color patterns of the antennae. I believe John’s is probably Andrachides transandinus (Cerambycinae: Trachyderini). The genus appears to have only the one species and it is endemic to Ecuador and Peru. Its similarity to Trachyderes is evident in that its original name was Trachyderes transandinus. As for the beetle from Arizona, I suggest checking out the closely related and similar T. mandibularis which is well represented on bugguide.net.  Regards.  Karl

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Subject: cerambyx
Location: costa rica
March 25, 2013 12:20 pm
a dark brown with yellow dorsal line
Cerambycidae?
Signature: fred from belgium

Taeniotes scalatus

Hi Again Fred,
You are correct that this is a Bycid or Longhorned Borer Beetle in the family Cerambycidae.  After searching fruitlessly for your previous Bycid, we are please to inform you that we believe we have correctly identified this individual as Taeniotes scalatus thanks to the Cerambycidae de Costa Rica site.

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Subject: red beetle
Location: costa rica
March 25, 2013 12:19 pm
can you help me with the determination of this red one?
thanks a lot
Signature: fred from belgium

Longhorned Borer Beetle is Oedudes species

Hi Fred,
This is such a beautiful Bycid, or Longhorned Borer Beetle in the family Cerambycidae, and we thought it would be easy to identify.  We are troubled that we were not able to find a match on the internet.  Our first lead was this unidentified specimen on Richard Seaman’s FlickR page, but we aren’t even sure they are closely related.  We thought for sure we would be able to identify it on the Cerambycidae de Costa Rica site, but alas, our eyes went blurry we looked at so many photos.  Perhaps eye fatigue caused us to miss it.  Though it looks somewhat similar in markings, the anatomical structural differences don’t quite match on these Crioprosopus nieti we found on the Cerambycidae de Costa Rica site.  The North American Milkweed Borers in the genus Tetraopes that are pictured on BugGuide look very similar in structure and coloration, however the Costa Rican species pictured on the Cerambycidae de Costa Rica site do not look similar.  We hope one of our readers will have better luck with this ID.

Update:  Oedudes species
We received two comments, one suggesting this might be Oedudes bifasciatus and another suggesting it might be Oedudes callizona.  See photos of Oedudes bifasciatus on The Early Birder, on Project Noah and on FlickR and a photo of Oedudes callizona on Cerambycidae Species.

Hi Daniel,
I’m a herpetologist amateur.
I realise that to determinate bugs is very very difficult!
Thanks a lot for the information
fred

You are most welcome Fred.  Your photos are quite lovely.  We have no scientific background and there are no entomologists on our staff, so any answers we provide should be viewed as questionable rather than conclusive.

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Subject: black with yellow stripes
Location: Missouri-USA
March 24, 2013 5:37 am
Yes we live in Missouri and in the last few weeks we have had this flying black and yellow striped bug in our house and there are several of them, what are they and how do i get rid of them, I’m not even sure how they are getting in the house. its cold and snowing out and they are still here. Please help
Signature: Kevin Kearns

Hickory or Locust Borers

Hi Kevin,
The best way to get rid of these Hickory Borers or Locust Borers is to stop bringing them into the house in the first place.  Both species are closely related and they have larvae that bore in wood.  We suspect you brought in some firewood, possibly hickory, pecan or black locust, and rather than burning it immediately, you left it where you keep the indoor wood supply.  The heat of the home triggered an early emergence of the adult beetles.  They will not reinfest the wood in your home or furniture as they are only interested in laying eggs in living or recently dead trees as a food source for the larvae.  The two species are very difficult to tell apart, but Hickory Borers, Megacyllene caryae, are active as adults in the spring, and Locust Borers, Megacyllene robiniae, are active as adults in the autumn when they are often found feeding on the pollen of goldenrod.

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