Subject: Black and white insect
Location: Mentioned in letter
September 11, 2015 9:24 pm
Hiking in our Utah woods, several miles south of Salt Lake City, I found a dead insect: black and grayish white, wide, horizontal, uneven stripes on body and very evenly measured antennae. It has a black dot on it’s grayish white head. The wings are about 1 inch long. I loved my entomology class in college years ago, now enjoy sketching and wish I’d pursued combining these for a profession instead of as an elem. school art teacher . I couldn’t deal with the numbers of students, traveling to several schools with a team teacher, sigh. Thanks for helping to identify my specimen! Can still take and send photo if you need it.
Signature: Linda brigance
Dear Linda,
Banded Alder Borers with their impressive antennae are much more beautiful alive than your dead individual indicates. Based on BugGuide data, your sighting represents the easternmost range of a species normally found from California to the Pacific Northwest.