Are longhorn beetles, which are phytophagous insects, poisonous? How do you control them?

With the arrival of summer, all kinds of insects begin to become active, and the mulberry pest longhorn beetle is a type of insect that people know well. Many people, during childhood, have caught or observed longhorn beetles and become interested in them. Interestingly, when you grab it, it makes a “creak creak” sound, trying to struggle free and escape. If you tie a thin thread to its leg and let it fly, you can also hear a “humming” sound. So are phytophagous insects longhorn beetles poisonous? How do you control them? Now let us take a look at the specific introduction to longhorn beetles.

Introduction to longhorn beetles

Longhorn beetles are the general name for insects of the family Cerambycidae in the suborder Polyphaga, with chewing mouthparts and very long antennae that often exceed the length of the body. There are about more than 20,000 species worldwide. Some species are pests, and their larvae live in wood and may cause damage to trees or buildings.

Longhorn beetles are phytophagous insects and can harm woody plants, mostly pine, cypress, willow, elm, walnut, citrus, apple, peach and tea, etc., some cotton, wheat, corn, sorghum, sugarcane and hemp, etc., and a few timber, buildings, houses and furniture, etc. They are major pests in forestry production, crop cultivation and construction timber.

Are longhorn beetles poisonous

Longhorn beetles are not poisonous by nature, but if you are bitten until it bleeds, then they are poisonous. Once bitten, immediately squeeze the blood out of the wound, then wash the wound with soapy water. There is no need to go to the hospital. If after a longhorn beetle bite causes bleeding you do not promptly squeeze the blood out of the wound, the venom will spread throughout the body, and in severe cases symptoms of dizziness and nausea will appear.

After being bitten by a longhorn beetle, if there is bleeding, immediately squeeze the blood out of the wound, rinse the wound with baking soda or soapy water, then apply 1%-3% ammonia water, or apply zedoary oil to the affected area. This is because the saliva of longhorn beetles is toxic.

Types of longhorn beetles

There are many types of longhorn beetles. More than 40,000 species are known worldwide, and China also has about 3,550 species. They are widely distributed and cause widespread damage. Almost every kind of tree is attacked by different types of longhorn beetles. Among the trees that suffer more damage, mulberry has 28 species of longhorn beetles, willow and poplar have 25 species, citrus has 18 species, and pine has 23 species. Among longhorn beetles, the most numerous and most common, besides the citrus long-horned beetle and the mulberry longhorn beetle, also include the Asian long-horned beetle, the peach red-necked longhorn beetle, the white-striped longhorn beetle, the red-margined longhorn beetle, the cloud-banded white-striped longhorn beetle, the bamboo tiger longhorn beetle, the deep-mountain longhorn beetle, and others. Typical longhorn beetle types have an elongated cylindrical body, a slightly flattened back, and especially long antennae, particularly the relatively common species such as the citrus long-horned beetle, the mulberry longhorn beetle, and the cloud-banded white-striped longhorn beetle.

How to control the mulberry pest longhorn beetle

Longhorn beetles are a type of coleopteran pest that harms branches and trunks. Those commonly occurring in mulberry orchards include the mulberry longhorn beetle, tiger longhorn beetle, cloud-banded longhorn beetle, yellow longhorn beetle, citrus long-horned beetle, and the yellowish small longhorn beetle, etc. The larvae bore into and feed on mulberry branches and trunks, forming wide tunnels, causing the bark to crack, and hindering the conduction of nutrients and water. In mild cases, mulberry branches become thin and leaves small, reducing yield; in severe cases, the mulberry trees wither and die. The development cycle of longhorn beetles is relatively long, and most have one generation per year, so control of longhorn beetles must be carried out consistently year-round.

For summer control of longhorn beetles, the main focus is controlling adults and killing eggs. During breaks in silkworm rearing, taking advantage of the longhorn beetle's habit of liking to gnaw on mulberry branch bark, you can spray the bark after summer pruning with a 100-fold dilution of 50% fenitrothion emulsion to kill adults. The peak emergence period of adults is in July to August, and they are easy to catch manually in the morning (because they fly slowly in the morning). At the same time, check the branches frequently. Once longhorn beetle egg-laying marks are found, promptly use a blade or other hard object to kill the eggs. If they have hatched into larvae, use a cotton ball dipped in a 30-50 fold dilution of 80% dichlorvos emulsifiable concentrate and insert it into the lowest excretion hole, then seal the opening with mud for chemical control.

After the above introduction, I believe everyone has some understanding, and I hope the above content can help everyone.