Are Longhorn Beetles Insects? Get to Know This Common Pest
The longhorn beetle gets its name because it is as strong as an ox and skilled at flying through the sky, and because it makes a "click, click" sound that closely resembles the sound of sawing wood, it is also called the "sawing wood man." In addition, some areas of southern China call it the water buffalo beetle or water buffalo, while some areas of the north call it the spring ox. Let's take a look below at whether the longhorn beetle is an insect!
Are longhorn beetles insects?
Longhorn beetles are insects. Longhorn beetles are the collective name for insects in the family Cerambycidae, superfamily Chrysomeloidea, order Coleoptera. More than 40,000 species are known worldwide, with a wide distribution and widespread damage; almost every kind of tree is attacked by different species 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 longhorn beetle and the mulberry longhorn beetle, also include the glossy-sided longhorn beetle, the peach red-necked longhorn beetle, the white-striped longhorn beetle, the red-margined longhorn beetle, the cloud-spotted white-striped longhorn beetle, the bamboo tiger longhorn beetle, and the deep-mountain longhorn beetle.
Can longhorn beetles fly?
Longhorn beetles can fly. Longhorn beetles are pests that harm trees such as poplar, willow, mulberry, pagoda tree, plane tree, and chinaberry. Because they are as strong as an ox and skilled at flying through the sky, they got the name "longhorn beetle." Most longhorn beetles are black in body color and have a metallic luster on their bodies. 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 "humming" sound. Most have 1 generation per year, while some have 2 generations in 3 years or 1 generation in 2 years.
What do longhorn beetles eat?
Longhorn beetles are phytophagous insects, and are known to have different habits of feeding on pollen, tender bark, tender branches, leaves, roots, tree sap, fruits, fungi, and so on. Flower longhorn beetles often feed on pollen, while grooved-legged longhorn beetles often feed on and damage tender bark, tender branches, and leaves. Longhorn beetles are major pests in forestry production, crop cultivation, and building timber, harming most pine, cypress, willow, elm, walnut, citrus, apple, peach, and tea, as well as some cotton, wheat, corn, sorghum, sugarcane, and hemp, and a few kinds of timber, buildings, houses, and furniture.
What kinds of longhorn beetles are there?
1. Tiger longhorn beetle: The tiger longhorn beetle is a pest, an insect in the genus Xylotrechus, family Cerambycidae, order Coleoptera, mainly including the dawn tiger longhorn beetle, mulberry tiger longhorn beetle, grape tiger longhorn beetle, and green poplar tiger longhorn beetle. 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 chestnut, and is also a major pest of crape myrtle, plane tree, and citrus.
3. Saw longhorn beetle: The saw longhorn beetle is an insect in the genus Prionus, family Cerambycidae. Its main host plants are conifers, Pinus, Cunninghamia, Chamaecyparis, Quercus, Fagus, and so on. It is distributed in Northeast China, Inner Mongolia, Hebei, Zhejiang, Sichuan, Taiwan, China, and other places.
4. Slender longhorn beetle: The slender longhorn beetle is an insect in the genus Necydalis, 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, family Cerambycidae. Its body is nearly square, with a short head and thorax, and relatively flat and broad elytra. Females are noticeably larger and broader than males. The head is narrower 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.