Longhorn beetle

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 (e.g., '' Neandra brunnea'') 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.

Description

Other than the typical long antennal length, the most consistently distinctive feature of the family is that the antennal sockets are located on low tubercles on the face; other beetles with long antennae lack these tubercles, and cerambycids with short antennae still possess them. They otherwise vary greatly in size, shape, sculpture, and coloration. A number of species mimic ants, bees, and wasps, though a majority of species are cryptically colored. The titan beetle (''Titanus giganteus'') from northeastern South America is often considered the largest insect (though not the heaviest, and not the longest including legs), with a maximum known body length of just over .

Biology

All known longhorn beetle larvae feed on plant tissue such as stems, trunks, or roots of both herbaceous and woody plants, often in injured or weak trees. A few species are serious pests. The larvae, called roundheaded borers, bore into wood, where they can cause extensive damage to either living trees or untreated lumber (or, occasionally, to wood in buildings; the old-house borer, ''Hylotrupes bajulus'', is a particular problem indoors).

It is known that many longhorns locate and recognize potential hosts by detecting chemical attractants, including monoterpenes (compounds released en masse by woody plants when stressed), ethanol (another compound emitted by damaged plant material), and even bark beetle pheromones. Many scolytinids share the cerambycid's niche of weakened or recently deceased trees; thus, by locating scolytinids, a suitable host can likely be located as well. The arrival of cerambycid larvae is often detrimental to a population of scolytinids, as the cerambycid larvae will typically either outcompete them with their greater size and mobility, or act as direct predators of them (this latter practice is less common, but has been observed in several species, notably '' Monochamus carolinensis''). Cerambycids, in turn, have been found to play a role in attracting other wood-borers to a host. Borgemeister, et al. 1998, recorded that cerambycid activity in girdled twigs released volatiles attractive to some bostrichids, especially ''Prostephanus truncatus''. A few cerambycids, such as '' Arhopalus'' sp., are adapted to take advantage of trees recently killed or injured by forest fires by detecting and pursuing smoke volatiles.

Predators

Parasitoids

In North America native Cerambycids are widely the victims of '' Ontsira mellipes''. ''O. mellipes'' may be useful in controlling a forestry pest in this same family, '' Anoplophora glabripennis'', that is invasive in North America. ('' Ontsira'' is a genus of parasitoid wasps in the Doryctinae.)

Classification

As with many large families, different authorities have tended to recognize many different subfamilies, or sometimes split subfamilies off as separate families entirely (e.g., Disteniidae, Oxypeltidae, and Vesperidae); there is thus some instability and controversy regarding the constituency of the Cerambycidae. There are few truly defining features for the group as a whole, at least as adults, as there are occasional species or species groups which may lack any given feature; the family and its closest relatives, therefore, constitute a taxonomically difficult group, and relationships of the various lineages are still poorly understood. The oldest unambiguous fossils of the family are '' Cretoprionus'' and '' Sinopraecipuus'' from Yixian Formation of Inner Mongolia and Liaoning, China, dating to the Aptian stage of the Early Cretaceous, approximately 122 million years ago. The former genus was assigned to the subfamily Prioninae in its original description, while the latter could not be placed in any extant subfamily. '' Qitianniu'' from the mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber of Myanmar, dating to approximately 100 million years ago, also could not be placed in any extant subfamily.

Subfamilies

The eight subfamilies are:

* Cerambycinae Latreille, 1802
* Dorcasominae Lacordaire, 1869 (including former Apatophyseinae Lacordaire, 1869)
* Lamiinae Latreille, 1825
* Lepturinae Latreille, 1802
* Necydalinae Latreille, 1825
* Parandrinae Blanchard, 1845
* Prioninae Latreille, 1802
* Spondylidinae Audinet-Serville, 1832 (including former Aseminae Thomson, 1860)

Notable genera and species

* '' Acrocinus longimanus'' – harlequin beetle, a large species where the male has very long front legs
* '' Anoplophora chinensis'' – citrus long-horned beetle, a major pest
* '' Anoplophora glabripennis'' – Asian long-horned beetle, an invasive pest species
* '' Aridaeus thoracicus'' – tiger longicorn (Australia)
*'' Cacosceles newmannii'' - Southern African longhorn beetle that is a surgacane pest
* '' Desmocerus californicus dimorphus'' – valley elderberry longhorn beetle, a threatened subspecies from California
* '' Moneilema'' – cactus longhorn beetles, which are flightless
* '' Onychocerus albitarsis'' – the only known beetle with a venomous sting
* '' Petrognatha gigas'' – giant African longhorn beetle
* '' Prionoplus reticularis'' – huhu beetle, the heaviest beetle in New Zealand
* '' Rosalia alpina'' – Rosalia longhorn beetle, a threatened European species
* '' Tetraopes tetrophthalmus'' – red milkweed beetle, a toxic species with aposematic colors
* '' Tetropium fuscum'' – brown spruce longhorn beetle, an invasive pest species
* '' Titanus giganteus'' – titan beetle, one of the largest beetles in the world

See also

* List of longhorn beetle (Cerambycidae) species recorded in Britain

References

Further reading

* Monné, Miguel A. & Hovore, Frank T. (2005) Electronic Checklist of the Cerambycidae of the Western Hemisphere
PDFCerambycids.com

External links

Photo gallery "Longhorn beetles (Cerambycidae) of the West Palaearctic Region"


an

Catalogs of New World and Old World Cerambycidae, respectively

Cerambycidae of French Guiana

National Museu, Rio, Brazil
Holotype images

''Iberodorcadion'' Coleoptera, Cerambycidae, Dorcadion - RedIRIS



Cerambycidae of Borneo pdf

BugGuide.net - Longhorned Beetles (Cerambycidae)


on the University of Florida / Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences ''Featured Creatures'' website

Coleoptera: Cerambycidae
University of Florida, Dept. of Entomology and Nematology

Wood-boring beetles of the World

{{DEFAULTSORT:Longhorn Beetle
Cerambycidae,

Beetle families
Insect families
Polyphaga families