well i found this cool beetle outside this aquatic store here in my hometown of amarillo. sis just a few minues of resurch and i think it is a asian longhorn beetle.Plectrodera scalator (Fabricius), known as the cottonwood borer, is white with black markings. It is found only in a few northern Florida counties, and is restricted to cottonwood trees. It may have been unintentionally introduced into Florida with cottonwood trees from the Midwest, which are planted for erosion control.. ill post a pic later tonight but this is just a cool looking beetle i have never seen before and i thought i would share it it has the nicest white/black markings,w/long black antana.guess they made it to n.texas. the sore owner said their were a bunch outside this mourn. i might swing by and pick up moore.;P
cool beetle!
- Thread starter dragonvet
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Those are really nice looking. That is the first insect that planted the seed in my head when I was a kid. I was really little and they looked huge sitting on the base of a giant cottonwood. I couldn't believe my eyes!
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Cool looking beetle.
We cut down a bunch of osage orange trees around our yard edge, due to the thorns it has all over the small limbs having a propensity to attack lawnmower tires.
The wood is really really dense, so we stacked it back in the woods to dry out to use for firewood since it burns so well. One day last fall I noticed all of these fluorescent lime green and black striped beetles all over it, coming out of holes, and mating. Had to go look them up and they're Locust Borers.
Although I am leery of borers in general, due to their nature. Around here our newest grave threat is the Emerald Ash Borer, a non-native species that is decimating our dominant tree here in the Hoosier state. We've got restrictions on some counties prohibiting movement of lumber and firewood. Fortunately it hasn't been detected here in our county, and really south of Indianapolis for the most part.
We cut down a bunch of osage orange trees around our yard edge, due to the thorns it has all over the small limbs having a propensity to attack lawnmower tires.
The wood is really really dense, so we stacked it back in the woods to dry out to use for firewood since it burns so well. One day last fall I noticed all of these fluorescent lime green and black striped beetles all over it, coming out of holes, and mating. Had to go look them up and they're Locust Borers.
Although I am leery of borers in general, due to their nature. Around here our newest grave threat is the Emerald Ash Borer, a non-native species that is decimating our dominant tree here in the Hoosier state. We've got restrictions on some counties prohibiting movement of lumber and firewood. Fortunately it hasn't been detected here in our county, and really south of Indianapolis for the most part.
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You're lucky, we got hit hard by those EAB's. Our neighborhood used to be nice and forested, but since most of the trees were ash, there are now a lot of big gaps making the whole place hotter than ever in the summer
It's just annoying that all the ash trees were meant to replace the elm trees that all got killed because of dutch elm, so maybe we just arent meant to have trees filling that niche... cant they bring an invasive pest in that kills those dang ailanthus trees?!:wall:
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Yeah, our elms were decimated here as well. We had a big one in our yard when I was a kid, then in the span of a year it was dead. A 50 year old tree that my dad planted as a kid.
Although now I've heard they've been selectively breeding DED resistant trees and now have a pretty resistant strain now they're using to replant with. We have a couple of elms in the edge of our woods in the backyard that don't look too worse for wear, but then again I'd say they were only 10-20 years old at most.
Down here I am pretty worried about the EAB. Most of our forests in this neck of the woods is primarily ash. We have a big beautiful one in our yard now I'd be afraid to lose due to its shading of the western side of our home in summer. Most of our property though is wild cherry, sassafras, tulip poplar, maple, and oak...its just something about this hill.
My dad's 10 acres though is primarily ash, and the past few years he's lost about 80% of them for unknown reasons. He's had a Purdue extension agent out and they don't think its the EAB, as it hasn't been reported in our county yet, but they didn't have an answer as for why the sudden die-off.
Down here I wish there'd be some exotic disease to kill honeysuckle. It's taking over the understory of our forests and pushing out a lot of the native plants and flowers. It's a leggy shrub type plant, not viney like the native honeysuckles..and it produces thousands of berries every year, that birds don't ever seem to eat. Its a white-bloomed plant with the occasional yellow flower. We've been pulling it up around our property to try to encourage the native plants to come back.
Although now I've heard they've been selectively breeding DED resistant trees and now have a pretty resistant strain now they're using to replant with. We have a couple of elms in the edge of our woods in the backyard that don't look too worse for wear, but then again I'd say they were only 10-20 years old at most.
Down here I am pretty worried about the EAB. Most of our forests in this neck of the woods is primarily ash. We have a big beautiful one in our yard now I'd be afraid to lose due to its shading of the western side of our home in summer. Most of our property though is wild cherry, sassafras, tulip poplar, maple, and oak...its just something about this hill.
My dad's 10 acres though is primarily ash, and the past few years he's lost about 80% of them for unknown reasons. He's had a Purdue extension agent out and they don't think its the EAB, as it hasn't been reported in our county yet, but they didn't have an answer as for why the sudden die-off.
Down here I wish there'd be some exotic disease to kill honeysuckle. It's taking over the understory of our forests and pushing out a lot of the native plants and flowers. It's a leggy shrub type plant, not viney like the native honeysuckles..and it produces thousands of berries every year, that birds don't ever seem to eat. Its a white-bloomed plant with the occasional yellow flower. We've been pulling it up around our property to try to encourage the native plants to come back.
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asian longhorn beetle
Arent they a pest to trees and I thought anyone who finds one has to kill them and report it to authorities because of possible outbreaks.
Mabye that's just for NY?
Arent they a pest to trees and I thought anyone who finds one has to kill them and report it to authorities because of possible outbreaks.
Mabye that's just for NY?
no..cottonwood borers are not asian longhorn beetles.