Brown Prionid

Subject: Brown Prionus Beetle?
Location: Troy, VA
July 9, 2016 8:56 am
This large and impressive beetle was on my screen last night. I’m guessing it’s a prionus beetle.
Thanks for your help.
Signature: Grace Pedalino

Dear Grace,
This is NOT a Brown Prionus, but it is a Brown Prionid, and hopefully we will be able to properly explain the difference.  All living organisms on our planet are classified by an increasingly more specific categorization, beginning with the Kingdom, which in this case is Animal, and ending with a species designation of a lower case name following the genus, and forming the binomial that ensures that each creature is recognized as a distinct species worldwide.  It should be noted that a subspecies name may follow the species name, in which case the subspecies will have a trinomial, three-part name.  Your beetle’s binomial genus/species name is Orthosoma brunneum and it is commonly known as the Brown Prionid.  A Prionid is a Longhorned Borer Beetle that is classified in the subfamily Prioninae, and that subfamily also includes beetles in the genus Prionus.  So the genus Prionus and the genus Orthosoma are both in the subfamily Prioninae and their members collectively can be called the Prionids.