Our own metallic wood-boring beetles

[Brak]

This is, I think, Buprestis aurulenta found outside my door yesterday. Called the Golden Buprestid (14-19 mm), it is quite beautiful but very destructive to our coniferous forest. It is found throughout the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific coast. Many of you have probably seen this little guy but I thought I would post a photo as I always thought they were so tropical looking.

John

 

[Silver.x]

Little buggers destroying the forest, but hell, they are beautiful.

Aidan

 

[Cooper]

LOL, that si one of my earliest memories of an invertabrate as a kid. I was in....kindergarten or something, but anyways, one of those shiny suckers flew right into my head, scared the sh!t right out of me!

 

[skinheaddave]

If I remember correctly, these guys are related to an Australian beetle that can track the heat from forest fires for hundreds of miles.

Cheers,
Dave

 

[Wade]

Is a native species or introduced?

Wade

 

[jaijjs]

Thanks for posting the picture of this pest. I've always wondered what they were called. I use to see them by the hundreds every summer years ago when I lived out at Diamond point.

 

[Brak]

"Distribution and hosts

This beetle is native to western North
America, ranging from central British
Columbia to southern California.
Douglas-fir is the preferred host,
although pine, spruce, true firs and
western red cedar may also be
attacked.

Life history and habits

Adult beetles select recently dead
trees, dying trees, or unseasoned logs
on which to lay their eggs. These
materials become particularly
attractive when they have had bark
injuries such as those caused by fire,
logging, or lightning, etc. Unseasoned"

From

The Golden
Buprestid
A Wood-Boring Beetle
R.W. Duncan
ISBN 0-662-19298-2 Cat. No. Fo 29-6/68-1992E
Pacific Forestry Centre


This is an interesting bit of info:


"This species is the most damaging in its genus. Larvae have been known to take 30 years to complete their development in structural timbers. The emergence holes sometimes penetrate roofing materials which results in leakages. The Orpheum Theater in Vancouver was water damaged after "bargin priced" roofing timbers, cut from trees salvaged from the Taylor River fire on Vancouver Island, produced a large number of adult beetles which bored straight through the tar roof. "

From:

http://www.forestry.ubc.ca/fetch21/FRST308/lab7/buprestis_aurulenta/golden.html


Seems to be a native species but not numerous enough to damage large areas. We have a couple of other species, the spruce bud worm and mountain pine beetle, that are devastating large tracts of timber. They need - 40 degrees for 2 weeks to get a large kill. Unfortunately we have been having warmer winters of late.


Mountain Pine Beetle
Dendroctonus ponderosae
A mature adult mountain pine beetle is light brown to black in color and is 4.5
to 6.5 mm in length ( less then 1/4 inch in length)

From:

http://www.bcen.bc.ca/caucuspg/fr/issues/beetles/More About Mountain Pine Beetles.pdf


John