Can Longhorn Beetles Fly? Understanding the Flight Ability of Longhorn Beetles

Longhorn beetles are a well-known group of insects that many people captured or observed during childhood. They are the general term for insects in the family Cerambycidae under the order Coleoptera, with chewing mouthparts and very long antennae that often exceed the length of their bodies. There are about more than 20,000 species worldwide, and some species are pests. Let us take a look below at whether longhorn beetles can fly!

Can longhorn beetles fly?

Longhorn beetles can fly. Longhorn beetles are pests that harm trees such as poplar, willow, mulberry, pagoda tree, Chinese parasol tree and chinaberry. Because they are as strong as an ox and good at flying in the sky, they got the name "longhorn beetle" (literally "sky ox"). Most longhorn beetles are black in body color, with a metallic sheen on the body. The adults are commonly seen in forest areas, orchards and other places. When flying, the elytra open and remain still, while the inner wings flap, producing a "ying ying" sound. Most have 1 generation per year, and there are also those with 2 generations in 3 years or 1 generation in 2 years.

What do longhorn beetles eat?

Longhorn beetles are phytophagous insects. It is known that they have different feeding habits, including feeding on pollen, tender bark, tender twigs, leaves, roots, tree sap, fruits, fungi and so on. Flower longhorn beetles often feed on pollen, while groove-legged longhorn beetles often damage tender bark, tender twigs and leaves. Longhorn beetles are major pests in forestry production, crop cultivation and construction timber. They harm most pines, cypresses, willows, elms, walnuts, citrus, apples, peaches and tea, etc., some cotton, wheat, corn, sorghum, sugarcane and hemp, etc., and a few damage timber, buildings, houses and furniture, etc.

What types of longhorn beetles are there?

1. Tiger longhorn beetle: The tiger longhorn beetle is a pest, an insect in the genus Xylotrechus of the family Cerambycidae under the order Coleoptera. It mainly includes the gloomy tiger longhorn beetle, mulberry tiger longhorn beetle, grape tiger longhorn beetle, green poplar ridge tiger longhorn beetle, etc. Adults appear in summer and live in mid-altitude mountain areas.

2. Citrus longhorn beetle: The citrus longhorn beetle is a longhorn beetle unique to Japan, China and South Korea. It can harm many trees such as poplar, willow, elm, London plane, jujube and Chinese chestnut, and is also a major pest of crape myrtle, sycamore and citrus.

3. Saw longhorn beetle: The saw longhorn beetle is an insect in the genus Prionus of the family Cerambycidae. Its main host plants are conifers, Pinus, Cunninghamia, Chamaecyparis, Quercus, Fagus, etc. It is distributed in Northeast China, Inner Mongolia, Hebei, Zhejiang, Sichuan, Taiwan, China and other places.

4. Thin longhorn beetle: The thin longhorn beetle is an insect in the genus Necydalis of the family Cerambycidae. Its main host plants are fir, spruce, linden pine, fish-scale spruce and other Pinus plants. It is distributed in Northeast China, Zhejiang and other places, and abroad in the Soviet Union, Korea, Sakhalin, Japan and other places.

5. Flower longhorn beetle: The flower longhorn beetle is an insect in the subfamily Lepturinae of the family Cerambycidae. Its body shape is nearly square, the head and thorax are short and small, and the elytra are relatively flat and wide. Females are noticeably wider and larger than males. The head width is less than the pronotum, the antennae do not reach the end of the elytra, and the fourth segment is shorter than the third or fifth segment.