Subject: Brown Beetle on my Screen porch
Location: Piedmont region, Apex, NC
July 18, 2017 7:53 pm
I found this beauty on my screen porch after a rain, it is about 1.5 inches long with the most interesting antennae. I cannot find a decent key that tells me more than that it is a beetle which I guesses. 71degrees F suburban piedmont NC Semi-wooded lot next to pasture land.
Signature: Debi
Dear Debi,
The spectacular antennae identify this as a male Tile Horned Prionus, and according to BugGuide: “Huge longhorn, dark brown and shining. Antennae have 18-20 overlapping segments (male). Female has 16-18 serrated segments. Other eastern Prionus have 12-13 antennal segments.” BugGuide also states: “On mid-summer nights, these hit lighted windows so hard at my house in Durham, North Carolina, that I fear the glass will break. Seems that mostly males come to lights.”