What Are They?
There are many species of longhorn beetles scattered across the world. The beetles can vary in size. An average longhorn beetle can grow from 0.25 to 3 inches long.
They have dark brown or black bodies with white spots on them.
When adult beetles lay eggs, they do it in freshly cut trees. Their larvae emerge from eggs and burrow into the tree bark for food. They create tunnels in the wood and live there for more than 2-3 years
The longhorn beetle larvae are white to yellowish in color and have a worm-like shape.
Longhorn beetles are known to perform a pivotal role in the decomposition and nutrient-cycling process in forest regions.
These beetles are known to consume living organisms and dead organisms; in some cases, they even consume dying organisms.
Are These Bugs Dangerous to Humans?
These beetles usually do not enter human houses, but they can sometimes come in from freshly cut pieces of wood brought indoors.
These beetles pose no threat to humans as they rarely show any aggressive behavior towards humans.
You will be relieved to know that they also cannot attack the furniture or damage the household properties. However, they will crawl around the house, creating a nuisance.
Are They Poisonous?
These beetles don’t have a venomous sting and are not poisonous to human beings. The only real threat is that they can damage trees.
Moreover, longhorn beetles are rarely seen attacking humans or pets. However, they will attack if you try to manhandle them, and their bites can cause severe pain.
Do Longhorn Beetles Bite?
These beetles are known to eat both living and dead organisms. They attack both old and healthy trees to eat wood.
Adult Asian Long-horned beetles (Anoplophora glabripennis) are herbivorous and usually feast on leaves, twigs, and other plant matter.
They are known to cause damage worth billions of dollars due to their penchant for eating through trees like poplar trees, elm trees, and so on.
They rarely sting or bite humans or pets, but they will bite if you mishandle them. The bite can cause a blister on your skin. Therefore one must be careful around them.
What Damage Can They Do?
Asian Longhorn Beetles, one of the insects from this family of beetles, can cause massive damage to trees.
In some cases, they are responsible for completely destroying big healthy trees.
These beetles are especially attracted to mountain ash trees, maple trees, willow trees, and more.
The larvae of the beetles grow inside these trees and spend one to three-years tunneling through them, eating the wood.
This makes the tree hollow, and even a strong gust of wind can knock an entire beetle-infested tree.
Symptoms of an Infestation?
If an Asian longhorn beetle has occupied a tree near your house, you might see some of these creatures loitering around your yard or house.
However, these beetles are usually hard to track and get rid of. Here are a few common signs that will help you detect a longhorn beetle infestation:
- You might notice some chewed-up round depressions in the bark of the tree.
- Pencil-sized round exit holes in the tree are another indication.
- There might be a high amount of sawdust gathered around the base of the tree.
- Non-seasonal yellowing and shedding of leaves.
What an excellent and fun website! I thought you might be able to help me with two mystery bugs that have proven baffling. The second is this strange bug my entomology class in Puerto Rico. We were stuck, and I still am – I can’t place it to order even, although the mouthparts and thorax might suggest some weird orthopteran. This specimen was about 2 and a half cm from antennae-tip to the base of wings.
Thanks!
Robbie
Longicorn
32 Comments. Leave new
Hi esthar2001@yahoo.com. Most longhorn beetles (Cerambycidae) are fairly drab so I thought yours would be relatively easy to track down – not so. I suspect that your beetle is either uncommon or hasn’t made itself and agricultural or forestry pest. I took several approaches and all trails seemed to lead to the genus Batocera (sufamily Lamiinae). This genus includes several notorious pests, perhaps most notably the mango stem-borer (Batocera rufomaculata), which is a serious problem in India and many other parts of south Asia. The genus also includes a number of species with brilliant red markings. I was able to find one internet site that featured a Batocera sp. that looks very similar to yours at: http://albumo.com/photo/212955/Longhorn-Beetle—Batocera-sp..html. The photos are from Malaysia, but many Asian species are quite widespread. I suspect this may be a closely related species. Cheers. K
Hello again Esthar: I would like to correct the identification I previously suggested for this beautiful longicorn beetle. The correct species is Olenecamptus bilobus (Cerambycidae: Lamiinae: Dorcaschematini). There are numerous subspecies and as a group they are widespread throughout south and southeast Asia, as far north as Taiwan and Japan. The large spots on the elytra can be either red or white, usually bright red in India. Apparently the red color fades to white in dried specimens. The extremely long antennae (more than twice the body length in males) are also characteristic. In India they are considered a pest on a variety of fig species. The same beetle was posted again on this site by Mohit from New Delhi (April 12, 2009): https://www.whatsthatbug.com/2009/04/13/unknown-longicorn-beetle-from-india/). There are numerous photos on the internet; check out: http://www.insectsofindia.in/imagedetails.php?id=177
Regards. K
This specie is likely Batocera rubus, or rubber root borer in English.
http://www.zin.ru/ANIMALIA/COLEOPTERA/eng/ziarko2.htm
These are edible as adults [probably as larvae also.] I had one at a banquet in Chiang Mai, Thailand, though it might not have been B.rubus but another member of the genus.
This touches on the intriguing subject of “ethno-names,” meaning the identification system by which traditional practitioners of entomophagy identify which species or individual insects (or other foods, of course) are good to eat.
Best,
Dave
http://www.smallstockfoods.com
Despite it doesn’t look like a very good match, the only Prioninae in Costa Rica listed on Coleoptera Neotropical is Callipogon sericeum
Hi Cesar,
We tried a web search of Callipogon sericeum and found some good matching images on the Harvard University’s Caribbean Insects website.
You’ll need to open that link in a new tab, this image is very close: http://insects.oeb.harvard.edu/caribbean/mantisweb/FMPro?-DB=Image.DRD&-Lay=web&-Format=images_DR.htm&Species_ID==200418&-Find
Thanks Cesar. You appear to have gotten us the identification, however, for some reason the link you provided is not working. We did our own search and have a link to a great matching image on the Harvard University’s Caribbean Insects website.
My link is working well here. In the first you have to open in a new tab or window. That’s the same image!
hello my name is welman cease vega I am from Dominican Republic and I am interested in the business of the beetle
in my town are a bit rich if you are interested write me whatssap 809-750-5091
I took a photo of this insect in July 2016 on a bramble leaf on a path in a wood clearing near our house post code DH9 6YX
Hi,
I snapped some mug shots of this beauty today in Hebden Biridge, West Yorkshire HX7. I take photographs of everything that moves but this is the first time I saw this fellow after 31 years of walking around these hills. Very pleased with the photos.
Hi,
I snapped some mug shots of this beauty today in Hebden Biridge, West Yorkshire HX7. I take photographs of everything that moves but this is the first time I saw this fellow after 31 years of walking around these hills. Very pleased with the photos.
Must be Thysia wallichii wallichii:
https://apps2.cdfa.ca.gov/publicApps/plant/bycidDB/wdetails.asp?id=27045&w=o
Thanks so much Cesar. Karl also wrote in with the same idenficiation and a link to the same site.
Must be Thysia wallichii wallichii:
https://apps2.cdfa.ca.gov/publicApps/plant/bycidDB/wdetails.asp?id=27045&w=o
Check out Thysia [Diastocera] wallichii.
https://apps2.cdfa.ca.gov/publicApps/plant/bycidDB/wthumb.asp?g=Thysia&w=o
Thanks Karl. Cesar Crash also wrote in with the same identification and a link to the same site.
Check out Thysia [Diastocera] wallichii.
https://apps2.cdfa.ca.gov/publicApps/plant/bycidDB/wthumb.asp?g=Thysia&w=o
Could be Lepturobosca chrysocoma?
I got a photo of a bug like that in the Trinity Alps Wilderness in N California.
https://flic.kr/p/28wndry
Thanks for your suggestion, but Doug Yanega is an entomologist, more specifically a coleopterist who specializes in North American Beetles, so we defer to his identification of Strophiona laeta.
Yo tengo este escarabajo, me gustaría saber cuál es el negocio
¿Cuál negocio, Paula?
wow, i was searching to see what this beetle is or in my case was as i killed two of them this week. i imagined it may be hard to confirm but when i saw the other one from jarabacoa, it was clear especially as i am also in jarabacoa. I can not imagine people pay money for these things. How many would you like and for how much?
Dear Chris, I am interested in purchase of such beetles from Jarabacoa. Can you please give your phone number to discuss the matter?
Hello, I would be interested in beetles. This year I will visit the D. Republic. If you caught bugs for me, I could stop by your place.
Actually, this beetle is Neoptychodes trilineatus: https://bugguide.net/node/view/118212. It’s a flat-faced longhorned beetle (Lamiinae) like Saperda, but notice the median stripe and also the much bigger antennal scapes. In the US, this species is found mainly in the southwestern states. It also ranges down to South America.
Thanks so much for the correction on this.
Male Aegosoma sinicum
Hello, I would be interested in beetles. This year I will visit the D. Republic. If you caught bugs for me .
Hi. Just found a few of these longhorn beetles on my avocado tree. Do they eat their flowers as it looks quite decimated atm. What do 8 do to deter them?
Pelargoderus.