What Could It Be? ©

 

 

“What could it be?”, that is what they asked me.   Photograph by the Author.

“What could it be?”,   That is what my wife and granddaughter asked me, about two weeks ago.  Frankly, I had no clue other than it was a big bug!  So, I took some photographs and did some research and found out the answer.

 

a Flower Longhorn Beetle...

 

It is a Flower Longhorn Beetle, a stenelytrana emarginata, a member of the cerambyciae family, and part of the sub-family of lepturinae.  The long antennae and its bright orange-red elytra, or wing case, make them easy to identify.

 

The range of the flower longhorn beetle, from “Flower Longhorn Beetle (Stenelytrana emarginata)”, by a Staff Writer at www.InsectIdentification.org, HERE.

But, first off, it is not an invasive species, the flower longhorn beetle is native to North America and is considered to be a plant pollinator, since they feed on pollen and nectar.  They are particularly fond of members of the carrot, parsley and celery family and are often found on Queen Anne’s Lace, or in Latin, daucus carota.  These beetles are often found on flowers, which is where this one was found, but are often not seen, although they can be lured to an area by putting out fruits, or other juicy sweet foods, or special fermenting baits.

 

Also, the other good news is they don’t bite, sting, attack furniture or houses, or any other dried wood.

 

Queen Anne's Lace, daucus carota, growing in an old brownfield, along the Buffalo, NY waterfront, photograph by the Author.

The immature stage of the flower longhorn beetle is a wood boring larva called a “roundheaded borer”.  Longhorn beetle lay their eggs on the green bark of dying, freshly cut or other newly killed trees, particularly elm and beech trees.  They can only infest recently killed trees, and not dried lumber.  The brown headed, white to yellowish colored larva, emerge from their eggs, and spends one to three years burrowing into the wood of their birthplace, leaving a pencil sized tunnel filled with sawdust behind them, before emerging as adult beetles from a hole in the wood.  And these are large beetles, the one from our flower garden measured 2 inches long, or 5 cm, from the tip of the back leg to the tip of his antennae!

 

Photograph by the Author.

So, know we all know what it is and the next time you see one you can say “Hello, flower longhorn beetle!  Welcome to my flower garden”.

 

Don’t forget to come back next week and read “Could You Survive...Night Vision ©”, where we will talk about night vision.

 

I hope that you continue to enjoy The Woodsman’s Journal Online and look for me on YouTube at BandanaMan Productions for other related videos, HERE.  Don’t forget to follow me on both The Woodsman’s Journal Online, HERE, and subscribe to BandanaMan Productions on YouTube.  If you have questions, as always, feel free to leave a comment on either site.  I announce new articles on Facebook at Eric Reynolds, on Instagram at bandanamanaproductions, and on VK at Eric Reynolds, so watch for me.

 

That is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!

 

 

Sources

 

 

Boggs, Joe; “Flower Longhorn Beetles”, July 21, 2016, [© 2016, The Ohio State University], https://bygl.osu.edu/node/445#:~:text=Flower%20longhorn%20beetles%20are%20considered,of%20having%20very%20long%20antennae, accessed August 7, 2022

 

ISU Extension; “Roundheaded Borers and Longhorned Beetles”, [© 2022 ISU Extension and Outreach], https://hortnews.extension.iastate.edu/roundheaded-borers-and-longhorned-beetles#:~:text=These%20beetles%20may%20also%20wander,in%20furniture)%20nor%20dried%20firewood, accessed August 7, 2022

 

Staff Writer; “Flower Longhorn Beetle (Stenelytrana emarginata)”, 01/03/2022, [© 2022 www.InsectIdentification.org], https://www.insectidentification.org/insect-description.php?identification=Flower-Longhorn-Beetle-Steneltytrana-emarginata, accessed August 7, 2022