The insects of the beetle family Chrysomelidae are commonly known as leaf beetles, and include over 37,000 species in more than 2,500 genera, making up one of the largest and most commonly encountered of all beetle families. Numerous subfamilies are recognized, but the precise taxonomy and systematics are likely to change with ongoing research.
The Asian long-horned beetle, also known as the starry sky, sky beetle, or ALB, is native to the Korean Peninsula, northern and southern China, and disputably in northern Japan. This species has now been accidentally introduced into the eastern United States, where it was first discovered in 1996, as well as Canada, and several countries in Europe, including Austria, France, Germany, Italy and UK.
The longhorn beetles (Cerambycidae), also known as long-horned or longicorns, are a large family of beetles, with over 35,000 species described. Most species are characterized by extremely long antennae, which are often as long as or longer than the beetle's body. In various members of the family, however, the antennae are quite short and such species can be difficult to distinguish from related beetle families such as the Chrysomelidae. The scientific name of this beetle family goes back to a figure from Greek mythology: after an argument with nymphs, the shepherd Cerambus was transformed into a large beetle with horns.
The term woodboring beetle encompasses many species and families of beetles whose larval or adult forms eat and destroy wood. In the woodworking industry, larval stages of some are sometimes referred to as woodworms. The three most species-rich families of woodboring beetles are longhorn beetles, bark beetles and weevils, and metallic flat-headed borers. Woodboring is thought to be the ancestral ecology of beetles, and bores made by beetles in fossil wood extend back to the earliest fossil record of beetles in the Early Permian (Asselian), around 295-300 million years ago.
Hylotrupes is a monotypic genus of woodboring beetles in the family Cerambycidae, the longhorn beetles. The sole species, Hylotrupes bajulus, is known by several common names, including house longhorn beetle, old house borer, and European house borer. In South Africa it also is known as the Italian beetle because of infested packing cases that had come from Italy. Hylotrupes is the only genus in the tribe Hylotrupini
Knulliana is a genus of longhorn beetles. It is monotypic, being represented by the single species Knulliana cincta, commonly known as the banded hickory borer. The species may be found throughout the eastern half of North America, including Mexico and the Bahamas, with one subspecies extending to the Sonoran Desert.
Xanthocryptus novozealandicus, the lemon tree borer parasite, is a wasp in the family Ichneumonidae. It is a native insect of New Zealand. It is also found in Australia and New Guinea. Females hunt for larvae of wood-boring beetles around March, including the lemon tree borer, a native cerambycid that tunnels into citrus trees, grapes and many native species. When a suitable host is found, the female pushes her ovipositor through the wood and injects her eggs into the grub. This has the incidental benefit of helping to control some pests. X. novozealandicus prefers to prey on second year lemon tree borer larvae. This specific parasite prefers to prey on larger second year larvae due to its larger size.
The Banded Alder Borer, Rosalia funebris, is a member of the very diverse family of longhorn beetles.
The cottonwood borer is a species of longhorn beetle found in the United States east of the Rocky Mountains that feeds on cottonwood trees. It is one of the largest insects in North America, with lengths reaching 40 millimetres (1.6 in) and widths, 12 mm (0.47 in). It is the only species in the genus Plectrodera.
Neoclytus acuminatus, the red-headed ash borer, is a common North American species in the longhorn beetle family (Cerambycidae).
Enoplocerus is a genus of longhorn beetles in the subfamily Prioninae of the family Cerambycidae. It is monotypic, being represented by the single species Enoplocerus armillatus, commonly known as the giant longhorn beetle or imperious sawyer.
Derobrachus hovorei is a species of beetle in the family Cerambycidae, known variously as the palo verde beetle, palo verde root borer, or palo verde borer beetle. For over 100 years, this species was confused with the related species Derobrachus geminatus, and only recognized and given its own name by Santos-Silva in 2007; essentially all literature prior to 2007 therefore incorrectly uses the name geminatus for this species. It is a longhorn beetle native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico which derives its common name from the palo verde tree, and it is one of the largest beetles in North America, reaching up to three and a half inches in length. Adults are black or brown in colour, have long antennae, and spines on the thorax. They have wings and can fly, albeit awkwardly at times. Mature beetles emerge in the summer to mate. Adults do not eat, and rely solely on their energy reserves until they die in about one month. While not harmful to humans, they can bite in self-defense.
Tetropium fuscum, the brown spruce longhorn beetle, is a species of beetle in the family Cerambycidae. It was described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1787. Tetropium fuscum is native to Europe and Northern Asia, and has been introduced to Nova Scotia, Canada. Brown spruce longhorn is a pest of spruce trees.
Prionus californicus, commonly known as the California root borer, is a species of insect in the longhorn beetle family (Cerambycidae). It is native to the American west where it is often a pest of orchard and vine crops.
Batocera boisduvali, the great fig tree borer, is a species of flat-faced longhorn beetle belonging to the subfamily Lamiinae of the family Cerambycidae.
Phoracantha semipunctata, the Australian Eucalyptus longhorn, is a species of beetle in the family Cerambycidae. Native to Australia, it has now spread to many parts of the world, including practically all countries where tree species of Eucalyptus have been introduced. It has been classified as an invasive pest species of Eucalyptus outside Australia.
Phoracantha is a genus of eucalyptus borers in the family Cerambycidae. There are at least two described species in Phoracantha.
Euderces pulcher is a species of beetle in the family Cerambycidae. It was described by Henry Walter Bates in 1874 and is known from Central and North America, specifically from Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, and Mexico. Its larvae feed on Guazuma ulmifolia.
Prionus laticollis, also known as the broad-necked root borer, is a root-boring longhorn beetle described by Drury in 1773. It is widespread throughout eastern North America: its range covers a vast swath from Quebec in the northeast to Arkansas in the southwest. The larvae damage trees and other plants by feeding on their roots. They are mostly active during dusk and at night. They are good burrowers and hide at the base of oak trees and other food sources. The female is larger than the male, with an ovipositor used to deposit eggs. When the female is laying eggs, she "shivers" and eggs are laid through the ovipositor, positioned down into the soil or under litter, usually in groups of threes and twos, but sometimes ones or fours. After the eggs are laid, the female moves her ovipositor up and down to fill the hole she created. When freshly laid, the eggs are pure white, glistening with moisture, but, after a while, they usually change to a deep yellow. Within a few days, the deep yellow eggs turn to a light washed pink. As the larvae develop inside, the eggs turn ivory in color. The eggs are the size of small grains of rice. When the larvae are hatching, they chew through one of the elongated, pointed sides of the egg. The larvae's heads are adapted for digging into the soil, and they have strong black mandibles for chewing roots.
Oemona hirta, the lemon tree borer, also known as the whistling beetle or the singing beetle, is a longhorn beetle endemic to New Zealand. Its larvae are generalist feeders, boring into the wood of a wide variety of trees, native and introduced. When citrus orchards were first established in New Zealand, this beetle started inflicting serious damage, and so gained the name "lemon tree borer". Four species within the genus Oemona have been identified, suggesting that more species could be found. When disturbed by predators or humans, the adult beetle stridulates creating a "rasp" or "squeak" sound by rubbing its thorax and head together against an area of thin ridges. Māori would eat a liquid called "pia manuka", which was produced by manuka trees when its wood was damaged by the larvae. When Captain Cook first arrived in NZ, his naturalists, Banks and Solander, collected a lemon tree borer in their first collection between 1769 and 1771. This oldest collected specimen can be found in the British Museum. A few years after the first collection, the species would be first described by the Danish naturalist Fabricius in 1775.
