Subject: Beetle?
Location: Caribbean, US Virgin Islands, St. Croix
August 10, 2015 5:18 pm
Dear Bugman,
Attached is a picture of a bug taken ending of July 2015. I saw at least 4 of them coming around my apartment. Can you IF the bug so that I can learn more about them?
Thanks,
Signature: Andres
Dear Andres,
We were not aware that the Mango Stem Borer, Batocera rufomaculata, an Asian Longhorned Borer Beetle that has been accidentally introduced to the Israel where it is threatening mango, fig and avocado trees, had been introduced to the New World, however, Discover Life indicates: “B. rufomaculata is a polyphagous species which attacks both living and dead trees. While it tends to attack living trees which are stressed, it will also sometimes attack apparently healthy trees. The host range differs throughout the species’ range, but mango and fig are the two most commonly attacked hosts. Wild Ficus spp. were attacked and killed in the Caribbean.” No date is provided for when the Mango Stem Borer was first introduced to the Caribbean. Since this is a non-native introduction, we are tagging your submission as one of the Invasive Exotics.
I found two of these on our Mango tree in Sabana Hoyos PR Arecibo. This article was written in 2015. I took a picture, unfortunately my partner killed it. There were two breeding on the tree yesterday but today only one remained.