beetle
Location: New Hampshire
July 9, 2011 6:21 pm
This was digging a hole in my back yard, is it dangerous?
Signature: Randall

Mating Broad Necked Root Borers

Dear Randall,
We are most excited to post your photo of mating Broad Necked Root Borers, Prionus laticollis, our featured Bug of the Month for July 2011.  The larval grubs feed on the roots of trees, but they are not considered a pest species and it is doubtful there would be such a high population on a single tree that they would negatively impact the health of the tree.  Root Borers have very strong mandibles, and though they are not an aggressive species, should they be carelessly handled, they might deliver a painful bite and possibly even draw blood.

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seasonal insect
Location: Wittmann, Arizona, United States
July 8, 2011 10:05 pm
i believe it may be a member of the blister family.
im in Arizona, they come seasonally. they dont swim and they are nocturnal. what could they be??
Signature: Mr. Walker

Palo Verde Root Borer

Dear Mr. Walker,
This is a Palo Verde Root Borer, and they generally begin to appear in late June.  The larvae bore in the roots of the Palo Verde tree.

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Unidentified beetle
Location: West-central New Mexico, 7100’ elevation, pinyon/juniper forest
July 8, 2011 11:03 am
My husband says it’s a cockroach, I say, no. What say you?
Signature: Mary

Root Borer

Hi Mary,
We hope he is taking you for a nice romantic dinner for winning the bet.  This is NOT a cockroach.  This is a Root Borer in the genus Prionus, and a very likely candidate is Prionus heroicus. It looks like this picture on BuGGuide and though BugGuide has no reports from New Mexico (we would urge you to submit yours) it is found in neighboring Arizona and Utah.  Your elevation might be a key factor in identifying the species.  We like this comment:  “Male individuals of Prionus (Homaesthesis) rarely get this large – the subgenus is distinguished from Prionus (s. str.) by the opaque, non-striolate poriferous areas on the antennae, smaller size (usually less than 30 mm), and less strongly expanded pronotal margins.  Prionus californicus is typically more reddish – the darker coloration of this specimens makes me think it might be Prionus heroicus.  There is no such name as Prionus derobrachus. Derobrachus hovorei is the new name for the species formerly known as Derobrachus geminatus. The species formerly called Derobrachus forreri is the true Derobrachus geminatus.
… Ted C. MacRae, 29 August, 2007 – 11:50am” from BugGuide.  We wondered if this might be P. californicus, but the part of the dark coloration distinguishing the BugGuide photo seems to apply to your specimen, also a male.  An eastern relative, the Broad Necked Root Borer, is our featured Bug of the Month and beetles in this subfamily, Prioninae, have been most plentiful this year.  We would not like to aggravate a male Prionid as they have strong jaws and we suspect some species may be able to draw blood in a human.
P.S.  It looks smashed, so we are tagging this Unnecessary Carnage.

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Cincinnati Bug
Location: Cincinnati OH
July 8, 2011 8:16 am
I found this little guy and thought he was very interesting. Please identify the species..thanks!
Signature: Gretchen

Six Banded Longhorn

Hi Gretchen,
We are thrilled to post your photo of a Six Banded Longhorn, Dryobius sexnotatus, a species that BugGuide lists as:  “Species of Concern – USFWS Uncommon (3) and listed as rare and threatened on several state websites.  Species is ‘widely scattered and populations are sparse’ (1)  Rare (4)   Dury (1902) noted that Dryobius sexnotatus was once abundant but was even then becoming rare. Perry et al. (1974) noted a sharp decline in the collection of the species since 1942.”

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