Banded Hickory Borer (Knulliana cincta cincta)
Longhorned Beetle (Cerambycidae)
Range: Eastern North America to western Texas, south to northern Mexico..
Food: Larvae feed on dead and seasoned branches and limbs of hardwood species, including oak and hickory.
Life Cycle: Eggs are laid in crevices in the bark, or directly into the wood. Larvae feed the first season beneath the bark, then head deeper into the wood.
Identification: Markings may be absent. Prominent spines on sides of the pronotum and at the elytra apices. The scutellum is considerably longer than broad. There are no other NE longhorns of similar size and coloration that have strong spines on the femora, pronotum, and elytral apices.
Last week -- prior to our weather's return to winter-like conditions -- these longhorned beetles were numerous under our porch light.
Join the Macro Monday fun at Lisa's Chaos.
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13 comments:
It's back to winter down here, too., but we haven't had enough rain to settle the pollen. I'm sneezing my head off! Ah, Spring!! :)
That's a fearsome looking beetle.
Isn't he beautiful! I'll have to keep an eye out for these guys around our oaks...
He's a pretty ominous looking fellow. Reminds me a little of the gigantor I found in the woods in the TX Hlll country! ~karen
Those are some terrific details Marvin!
What a great photo! I do love insect photography!
I've never seen one of these, but I love his knobbly antennae. :)
Marvin, this is a terrific shot of the banded hickory borer. I'm not familiar with this insect. I assume it is native since you haven't said it isn't. We have a REAL BIG problem in the northeast with the emerald ash borer and the asian longhorn borer, both exotic, and potentially could wipe out millions of acres of hardwoods.
Thanks for this, it was fascinating to see the detail!
Well is this another insect I need to worry about? We have the ash borer coming in and the gypsy moth already here.
But, I haven't seen it around here in southwest Virginia. Thanks for posting a good photo--I will look for it.
Awesome image of a longhorn, its eyes look amazing in this photo. Spring has yet to arrive here in NW Missouri. We've had a few teaser days that hit 70+ and that has been it. Today was barely 40 and very gloomy. I will so glad when spring finally decides to stay.
That's one cool fella :D
What a great capture! I can see him so clearly!
Although I'm not an expert on insect pest status, I don't think the Banded Hickory is much of a problem. It is native and it's larvae only feed on dead and dying wood.
Excellent photo. Good to hear it's probably not too much of a pest. Instead it sounds like a janitor.
You can keep them there as far as I am concerned! Warm and gray here today, soon a cold front moved through with high winds and rain dropping the temp from 61F at noontime to 41F by 5 PM! However,the warmer weather apparently brought a bunch of birds northward. I saw 3 new species at the bog yesterday!
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