Virtual Exhibit on Canada's Biodiversity






back to order Coleoptera
insect database

Habitat
Adults: terrestrial
Immatures: terrestrial

Feeding Habits
Adults: phytophagous
Immatures: phytophagous

Size: 3 to 75 mm
Flight : strong flier

North American
Species:
1000


Coleoptera Cerambycidae
Long-horned beetles

Front Wings: hardened
Hind Wings: membranous
Mouthparts: chewing
Antenna Length: longer than body
Antenna Shape: straight
Front Legs: unmodified
Hind Legs: unmodified

Special Characteristics: Cerambycidae are easy recognizable due to their long antennae, usually longer than the body. Most species are elongated and cylindrical and many are brightly coloured. The larvae are white or yellowish, elongated, and almost legless.

Comments: Most adults feed on pollen, flowers, leaves, bark and wood. The larvae are phytophagous and burrow in wood.The adults lay their eggs in cracks in the bark, and the larvae will bore into the wood due to their powerful jaws that enable them to cut through wood. Some larvae live in the heartwood of trees, others in stems of herbaceous plants and some attack wood of frame buildings. Many species are very destructive in forest, fruit trees and freshly cut logs. Many long-horned beetles especially the dark coloured species are nocturnal and are attracted to lights.

Species:
Desmocerus palliatus (Forster)

Common Name:
Elderberry longhorn

Feeding Habits: Adults feed on pollen and the larvae feed on elderberry roots.

Distribution:
Eastern Canada.

Comments:
This large species (17 to 24 mm long) is common on low ground and stream edges.