Texas Beetle Information

Return to Texas Entomology - Compiled by Mike Quinn

Rustic Borer

Xylotrechus colonus (Fabricius, 1775)

Family Cerambycidae, Subfamily Cerambycinae, Tribe Clytini

(on hickory, Carya sp.)

Big Thicket National Preserve
Turkey Creek Unit, Kirby Nature Trail
SE. Village Mills, Hardin County, Texas
April 19, 2008 (Mike Quinn)

Texas County Range Map for Xylotrechus colonus

County Record Data from E.G. Riley, Apr. 2008

Range: Eastern North America, west to central Texas

Adult Activity: April to October in North Carolina (Brimley, 1938)

Larval Hosts: Primarily hickory, Carya sp., but also virtually all eastern hardwoods and pine. (Yanega, 1996)

Identification: Yellow basal line on elytra is diagnostic (Yanega, 1996)

Size: 8-15 mm (Yanega, 1996)

Abundance: Quite common (Yanega, 1996)

Note: Attracted to UV lights (Yanega, 1996)

Similar species:  

There are some 25 species of Xylotrechus (Monné & Hovore 2005), or 22 species (Arnett et al. 2002) depending on the authority.

Photo: Adult

Etymology: Xylotrechus colonus (Fabricius, 1775)

xyl, -o, =um (G). Wood
trech, -o (G). Run, hasten

Biography: Johan Christian Fabricius (1745-1808) - Wikipedia

References:

Arnett, R.H., Jr., M.C. Thomas, P.E. Skelley & J.H. Frank. (editors). 2002. American Beetles, Volume II: Polyphaga: Scarabaeoidea through Curculionoidea. CRC Press. xiv + 861 pp.

Borror, D.J. 1960. Dictionary of Word Roots and Combining Forms. National Press Books, Palo Alto. 134 pp.

Brimley, C. S. 1938. The Insects of North Carolina. Being a List of the Insects of North Carolina and Their Close Relatives. North Carolina Department of Agriculture, Raleigh. 560 pp.

Lingafelter, S.W. & N.V. Horner. 1993. The Cerambycidae of north-central Texas. The Coleopterists Bulletin, 47(2): 159-191.

Linsley, E.G. 1964. The Cerambycidae of North America. Part V. Taxonomy and classification of the subfamily Cerambycinae, tribes Callichromini through Ancylocerini. Univ. Calif. Publs Ent., Berkeley, 22: 1-197, 60 figs., 1 pl.

Monné, M.A. & F.T. Hovore. 2005. Electronic Checklist of the Cerambycidae of the Western Hemisphere. 393 pp.

Solomon, J.D. 1995. Guide to Insect Borers in North American Broadleaf Trees and Shrubs. USDA Forest Service Agriculture Handbook 706, Washington, DC.

Yanega, D. 1996. Field guide to northeastern longhorn beetles (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae). Illinois Natural History Survey, Champaign, 6:1-184.

01 Dec 2008  © Mike Quinn / Texas Entomology / Texas Beetle Information