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Flathead and Long Horned Beetles

FLATHEAD AND LONG HORNED BEETLES

LONG HORNED BEETLES

These beetles are normally introduced into a home on firewood. A few may be discovered in wooded areas. They may emerge in the house from firewood brought inside. They can, but rarely reproduce inside the home’s structure

CALLED “LONGHORNS” BECAUSE OF THEIR LONG ANTENNAE

Also called wood-boring beetles, cerambycid beetles deposit eggs in protected places on bark. The larvae typically feed on the inner bark, than bore into the sapwood or heartwood. Wood-boring beetles in the family Cerambycidae include many species that attack and kill fruit trees, omamental trees and shrubs, as well as damaged wooden members in buildings.

Cerambycid beetles, which affect a wide range of trees, can also transmit nematodes, fungi, and other pathogens that can kill the host trees. Cerambycids are also likely to transmit pitch canker and other fungal diseases as they feed and lay eggs.

  Cerambycid-longhorned beetle

Longhorn Beetle

The tunnels made by cerambycid larvae in host trees are roughly circular in cross section, and can be more than inch wide. Some species bore in the sapwood and heartwood, whereas others feed in the cambium layers, effectively destroying the vascular tissues of the tree, and killing branches or the whole tree.

NOTE: If large 1/8” to ¼” exit holes along with sawdust are detected on firewood, you must either burn the wood immediately if brought inside or leave the wood outside and use for outdoor fires.

NOTE: The old house borer beetle is also a long horned beetle of the Cerambycid family.


FLAT HEAD BEETLES

Emerald Ash Borer

 The buprestids are a large family of wood boring beetles. The most important species to us in Ohio at this time is the Emerald Ash Bober (Agrilus Planipennis).

Emerald ash borer (EAB), Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire, is an exotic beetle that was discovered in southeastern Michigan near Detroit in the summer of 2002. The adult beetles nibble on ash foliage but cause little damage. The larvae (the immature stage) feed on the inner bark of ash trees, disrupting the tree’s ability to transport water and nutrients.  About EAB's:

 Flathead Beetle

Flat Head Beetle

• Inspect your Ashtrees.
  
• If you see signs of foliage loss or disease contact your county extension agent or 1-888-OHIO-EAB.
  
• EAB's Killed more than 40 million ash trees in southeast Michigan alone, with tens of millions more lost in Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Virginia.
  
• Caused regulatory agencies and the USDA to enforce quarantines (Indiana, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia) and fines to prevent potentially infested ash trees, logs or hardwood firewood from moving out of areas where EAB occurs.
  
• Cost municipalities, property owners, nursery operators and forest products industries tens of millions of dollars.
  
• It attacks only ash trees (Fraxinus spp.).
  
• Adults leave a D-shaped exit hole in the bark when they emerge in spring.
  
• Woodpeckers like EAB larvae; heavy woodpecker damage on ash trees may be a sign of infestation.
  
• Firewood cannot be moved in many areas of Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Maryland because of the EAB quarantine (Indiana, Illiniois, Maryland, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia).
  
• EAB's probably came from Asia in wood packing material.