Devil Ant Head?
Location: Northport, Long Island, New York
August 6, 2011 1:04 pm
Dear Bugman,
We found this insect on my stoop, looks like the head of an ant? Not sure, very curious! Thanks for taking the time to check it out, we look forward to hearing back.
Signature: Best, Mark & Sophie
Head of a Root Borer
Dear Mark and Sophie,
This is the head of a Root Borer in the genus Prionus, and judging by the antennae, it is a male. Since we believe we can rule out the possibility that Lewis Carroll’s Red Queen is lurking in your bushes, the most likely culprit that performed the decapitation is a bird. Prionus Root Borers are large bodied insects, often reaching more than 2 inches in length. The soft abdomen is much more palatable than the hard head, and we occasionally receive images like this from curious readers.
¶ Posted 07 August 2011 § ‡ ° Unidentified beetle
Location: Cooperstown, Otsego County New York State
August 5, 2011 9:37 pm
I found this species for the first time a few years ago in Cooperstown, Otsego County New York State in a spruce tree I cut down, and tonight, in my bed!
would you please help identify it?
It is a fast mover so I apologize for the bad shot.
Signature: Eric Slater
Northeastern Pine Sawyer
Hi Eric,
This is a Longhorned Borer Beetle in the family Cerambycidae and the genus Monochamus. We believe it is the Northeastern Pine Sawyer, Monochamus notatus, based on your location and the beetle’s markings, and you may verify by comparing your individual to the images posted to BugGuide, especially this image.
¶ Posted 06 August 2011 § ‡ ° Prionus pocularis ?
Location: Westside of Okanagan Lake near Kelowna BC
August 2, 2011 2:19 pm
Just wondering if this may be the Prionus pocularis
Signature: oklakebc
California Root Borer
Dear oklakebc,
Prionus pocularis is a species found in eastern North America. In our opinion, this is Prionus californicus, the California Root Borer, which ranges from Mexico to Canada in the western states.
California Root Borer
¶ Posted 02 August 2011 § ‡ ° Mysterious Bug
Location: California
August 2, 2011 12:27 am
Hey guys, I was recently out walking in my backyard and I found this bug squirming on its back. It was an interesting looking one and so I thought I would post it here and see what you guys have to say about it. Every time I flipped it over, however, it would flip itself back onto its back and squirm there. I found another one that was running every which way searching for something. Then, I found another that was lying on its stomach flailing its limbs. After I did some digging, I found out that my neighbor recently sprayed his yard with poison, and apparently these things were caught in the cross-fire. How unfortunate, they are really something special with their size.
Signature: Josh
Palo Verde Root Borer
Dear Josh,
We are taking tremendous creative license with tagging your letter, because generally the person who submits the email is the person implicated in our tags. In this case, we are charging your neighbor with unnecessary carnage, but not necessarily for just the Palo Verde Root Borer, Derobrachus hovorei, that you photographed. We don’t know what was targeted by your neighbor, and perhaps he has a cherished Palo Verde tree that was compromised by a larger than usual population of Palo Verde Root Borers. Adult Palo Verde Root Borers are not the damage producing phase of the insect. The larvae are the borer and insecticide will most likely not penetrate to the root of the problem. Sadly, insecticides are indiscriminate in the lives they take, and beneficial as well as injurious creatures may succumb. Birds and Lizards might also become collateral damage by exposure to strong doses of toxins administered by an amateur. You may read more about the Palo Verde Root Borer on BugGuide.
Palo Verde Root Borer
4
Beautiful very large bug
Location: Central Nebraska – plains
July 30, 2011 3:33 pm
Here’s a photo of this giant bug that landed on my window screen here in central Nebraska yesterday morning. Though I’ve scoured the site trying to find one similar the only pic that came close was the Longicorn from Thailand and we’re a little far from there. lol
This guy is about 2” long, as big around as a woman’s pinky finger and has these amazing long antenna and legs! He has wings obviously since he flew onto the window screen but can climb and stick to anything he chooses.
Thanks for your help identifying him AND if you could please answer one question – what does he eat? I’d greatly appreciate knowing that answer.
thanks so much for you excellent information.
Signature: Marguerite
Cottonwood Borer
Hi Marguerite,
This is a Cottonwood Borer, Plectrodera scalator, one of the Longhorned Borer Beetles in the family Cerambycidae. Longhorned Borers are also called Longicorns, generally in French speaking countries, and Thailand was occupied by the French. It was astute of you to recognize the family resemblance. According to BugGuide: “Adults are reported to browse on shoots of host trees, especially leaf-stems (petioles), and bark.“ Try feeding this Cottonwood Borer young leaves from a cottonwood tree. Most of our reports come from Texas and Oklahoma, and you may be our first report from neighboring Nebraska.
¶ Posted 30 July 2011 § ‡ ° Beetle in Vermont
Location: Saxtons River, VT
July 27, 2011 10:34 pm
Hi Daniel,
Wondering if you can identify this beetle? It was on my screen door tonight, in southeast Vermont. It was about 1.5” in length. Thanks!
Signature: K L Thalin
Brown Prionid
Dear K L Thalin,
This beautiful beetle is a Brown Prionid, Orthosoma brunneum, and it is one of a group known collectively at Root Borers. If you would like to see more about this stunning creature, you can check out BugGuide.
¶ Posted 28 July 2011 § ‡ ° Monster Beetle
Location: Western Pennsylvania
July 25, 2011 1:32 pm
I found this poor drownd beetle floatig in my swimming pool yesterday and I really want to know what it is because I have never seen anything like it before. It is huge, as you can see compared to the size of the fly. I have tried searching the internet, but couldnt find very much. Please note that I did not kill this bug. I was, in fact, trying to save its little life but it was dead when I found it.
Sorry 
Signature: LadyStardust
Male Broad Necked Root Borer
Dear LadyStardust,
We cannot get the picture out of our minds of you attempting CPR on this unfortunate male Broad Necked Root Borer, our Bug of the Month for July. The antennae of the male are much more developed than those of the female. The backyard swimming pool is one of the most deadly traps for insects and other arthropods, and you need not fear this posting getting tagged as Unnecessary Carnage. We understand that it was accidental drowning. It appears as though the Fly might be a Blow Fly in the genus Lucilia, which included the Green Bottle Fly (see BugGuide). Blow Flies are Stage One Colonizers of decomposing corpses in the increasingly popular field of forensic entomology thanks to all of the CSI style television shows (though Crossing Jordan may have set the stage for the field with “Bug” Ravi Kapoor) and high profile murder trials like that of Casey Anthony.
2
Big Beetle
Location: Clinton, Beaver County, Western PA
July 25, 2011 8:45 pm
I was driving home from my Mum’s place on the 4th of July and saw what I thought was a mouse or mole or even bat crossing the road ahead of me. I drove over/above them slowly and carefully, then stopped, parked and put on my flashers to go get a better look. What I found was a GIANT BUG! I’d never seen a beetle so big before!
Now, I love bugs, so I was too excited for words! I ran back to my car and got my phone and got the two photos below.
I posted these on Tumblr earlier this month and my bug friends there say I found a broad-necked root borer.
I’m mainly sharing these pictures here because I’ve read so many sad stories on your Unnecessary Carnage page that I wanted to give you a happy story to post.
Sorry for the not-too-great quality of my pictures.
Signature: Toby Oaden
Broad Necked Root Borer
Hi Toby,
Thanks so much for thinking to send in your photo of a Broad Necked Root Borer, our Bug of the Month, and also you kind gesture to give us a happy story to post.
¶ Posted 26 July 2011 § ‡ ° 
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