Biology:Arhopalus ferus

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Short description: Species of beetle

Arhopalus ferus
Scientific classification edit
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Infraorder: Cucujiformia
Family: Cerambycidae
Genus: Arhopalus
Species:
A. ferus
Binomial name
Arhopalus ferus
(Mulsant, 1839)
Synonyms[1]
  • Callidium tristis Fabricius, 1787
  • Criocephalus ferus Mulsant, 1839
  • Criocephalum polonicum Motschulsky, 1845

Arhopalus ferus, commonly known as the burnt pine longhorn beetle,[2] is a species of long horn beetle, of the order Coleoptera. It was first described by French entomologist Étienne Mulsant in 1839.

Description

Adult beetles are 8–30 mm long reddish-brown to black, while males are generally smaller and lighter in colour.[3][4]

The body is elongated and oval, typical for longhorn beetles. The head angles forward, showing most of the mouth parts. The thread-like antennae are half to three-quarters of the body length, longer in males. The prothorax is smoothly curved with no spines, narrower than the elytra. The elytra have four ridges and slightly tapering sides.[4]

Eggs are white, opaque, and cigar-shaped, measuring about 0.5 by 1.8 mm. Creamy white larvae are cylindrical, with noticeable legs and pointed jaws. Larvae are active when removed from their tunnels.[4]

Behaviour

Diet

Arhopalus ferus prefers dead or dying Pinus and Picea injured by fire or other damage but rarely it will develop in healthy trees.[3][4] Females are attracted to volatiles from burnt trees or sawmills.[4]

Life cycle

Adults, live for several weeks, and emerge in spring to autumn.[3][4] Females can lay up to about 1000 eggs and they prefer to lay the eggs in fire-scorched host material.[4] Eggs are laid in groups of 5 to 50 in the bark cracks as early as 24 hours after a fire. If host material is not burned it can still support a lighter population.[4]

Larvae hatch in about 10 days and bore towards the inner layers with preference for phloem and cambium but sometimes eat sapwood.[4] The larval tunnels are oval in cross section and up to 12 mm wide.[4]

It native ranges the beetle needs 3 to 4 years to complete its life cycle but in New Zealand the beetle typically completes its life cycle in 1 to 2 years.[3]

Distribution

Arhopalus ferus naturally occurs across Europe, northern Asia (except Japan), and North Africa. It is an introduced species in New Zealand probably since the 1950s[2] but first reported from Australasia in 1970.[3]

References


Wikidata ☰ Q748238 entry