Bold beetle

June 08, 2018  •  Leave a Comment

Some discoveries happen on ambitious treks; others occur closer to home. This one, of a beetle known as the Chestnut Bark Borer, required only sharp eyes and a walk out the basement door to a garden spot across the driveway. Oh yes, it also demanded a long stroll through Beetles of Eastern North America, my still go-to tome by uber entomologist Art Evans. Thanks to a long interview with the author in 2014 when I reviewed BENA, I learned a little bit about the various family members of the insect order Coleoptera, and, from this guy's long antennae, also known as "horns," I guessed that its identity could be found among the Cerambycidae, the "Long-horned Beetles." There are a lot of Cerambycids, but this one, which Art described as "boldly marked in black and yellow," was pretty easy to find. The chestnuts, of course, are long gone, but as Strophiona nitens nibbled its way up a peony leaf, it was clear that the CBB has proved wonderfully flexible and found new things to eat.

 


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