?Longhorn Beetle?
Location: Arundel, West Sussex UK
May 20, 2011 5:41 am
Came across this beetle today 20052011 on framework of conservatory.
Could you identify, please?
Signature: Brian

Thick Legged Flower Beetle

Dear Brian,
Without too much effort, we quickly identified this comely specimen as a male Thick Legged Flower Beetle, Oedemera nobilis, on the National Insect Week website (June 25 – July 1, 2012)  where it states:  “This spectacular metallic-green beetle is usually seen on flowers. Only the male – seen here – has the characteristic thickened hind ‘thighs’ (femora). This species is common in gardens and grassland, and in open spaces in woods, in the south, but is more often found in coastal areas in the north of the country. The larvae feed and develop within plant stems.”  The Natural England website adds this information:  “This species is often seen on the flowers of ox-eye daisies. Another commonly seen species in gardens is a dull sage-green colour. Both are common throughout southern and south east England, but are a lucky rare find in the north, apart from south Cumbria where they are not uncommon.  Adults feed on pollen in a wide variety of open-structured flowers. It may be found on various members of the daisy, carrot and rose family, including hogweed, hawthorn, dogrose and bramble. The larvae live in hollow plant stems.”

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big beetle in my stump
Location: Miami, FL
May 3, 2011 7:00 pm
Hi there,
I’m a longtime fan, first time emailer!
I live in Miami, FL, and I have a big rotting stump in my yard (it was there when I bought the house; I don’t know what species it was). Last week my nephew noticed a pair of very large (~2” long) black beetles emerging from it. Since then, I’ve noticed that they emerge every day, right before dusk. I have found similar beetles on bugguide.net, but none with these exact feature. Can you help? Thanks! Note: in the photo, my beetle is covered in sawdust from a hard day’s work of stump-boring.
Signature: Jennifer P

Hardwood Stump Borer

Dear Jennifer,
Welcome to the ranks of the active contributors to our website.  We hope this is not your last submission.  This is one of the Prionid Root Borers in the subfamily Prioninae.  We believe it is the Hardwood Stump Borer, Mallodon dasystomus, and here is the link to the Bugguide species information page.  Adult Prionids have very strong mandibles that are needed to gnaw their way out of the galleries they excavate in tree stumps and roots as larvae.  While they are not aggressive nor are they considered dangerous, their mandibles would most likely draw blood should they be carelessly handled.

Dear Daniel:
Thanks so much!  I love your website.  Thanks for providing such a wonderful service to the bug-curious people of the world.
Jennifer

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Picture of Beetle
Location: Orange County, Southern California, USA
April 21, 2011 8:31 am
can You Identify this Beetle, found in Southern California. In a Park in Orange County.
Signature: FELIPE ANTILLON

Eucalyptus Longhorn Borer

Dear Felipe,
We are sorry about the delay in our response, but we were on holiday.  We have started with the oldest emails that arrived in our absence and we are going to post those that we find the most interesting.  Your beetle is an imported exotic species, but luckily, it feeds on an imported exotic plant and it does not have a direct effect on our native southern California ecosystem.  This is one of two closely related species that are both known as Eucalyptus Longhorn Borers.  They are native to Australia.  They first appeared in Southern California in the early 1980s when their presence did not garner much attention because that coincided with the Med Fly eradication program.  Residents are advised against transporting eucalyptus firewood as this is known to spread the Eucalyptus Longhorn Borers to new locations.  Since the eucalyptus trees have become ubiquitous in much of the southwest, these invasive exotic beetles have a significant economic impact.  The larvae bore tunnels and galleries under the bark and if they are especially numerous, they may kill a tree.

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Mystery beetle …  possibly
Location: Fayetteville, NC
April 15, 2011 3:32 pm
Hi Bugman!!
I LOVE your site and use it to identify what seems to be a never ending list of bugs I find in my garden in North Carolina. Today I came across this guy, while out gardening around 3pm, and cannot figure out what ’he’ is. It seemed to fly past me and land in an empty dog bowl where it has been resting ever since. We live in Fayetteville, NC and it is in the upper 70’s today if that helps.
Any help would be much appreciated!
Signature: Laurel Hurley

Follow up/Additional info for mystery beetle…possibly
Location: Fayetteville, NC
April 15, 2011 4:13 pm
Hi Bugman!
I just went back out to check on my little friend and he is actually stuck in the bowl. No wings on this guy and he is only about an inch long. He could have fallen from the loblolly pines in the yard, if not I have no clue why he was airborne. Thought I would add that info in case you do look into my mystery.
Thanks!
Signature: Laurel Hurley

Red Headed Ash Borer

Hi Laurel,
This is a Red Headed Ash Borer or a closely related species in the Long Horned Borer Beetle family Cerambycidae.  This species does actually have wings, but the soft flying wings are concealed under the hard wing covers known as the elytra.  The Red Headed Ash Borer is a wasp mimic, and many predators will not bother them after mistaking them for a stinging insect.

Hi Daniel,
Thank you so much for the identification!!! I actually thought it was a wasp at first since I had encountered a few actual wasps earlier in the day. At first glance it really does mimic well, insect evolution is so interesting.
Again, thank you for your time and knowledge!
Laurel

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