Longhorned Beetle
(Stenosphenus notatus)
(Stenosphenus notatus)
Identification: Combination of red pronotum with black spot and shiny black elytra with white hairs is distinctive.
Range: Eastern North America, west to Rocky Mountains.
Habitat and Food: Larvae feed in dead limbs of various hickories. Found in decidious forest with these host species.
Remarks: Most wood boring beetles overwinter as larvae. When warmer spring weather arrives, they develop into adult beetles and emerge in the late spring or early summer. S. notatus is different. Adult beetles develop in the fall, but overwinter inside the wood, finally emerging in the very early spring. (Source: Ted MacRae @ Beetles in the Bush) This particular beetle had actually not yet emerged. I found it inside a piece of hickory I split for firewood.
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