Texas Beetle Information

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Texas Crescent Longhorn Beetle

Typocerus lunulatus texanus Linsley & Chemsak, 1976

Family Cerambycidae, Subfamily Lepturinae, Tribe Lepturini

Range: South-Central United States: Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma.

Subspecies restricted to Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas.

Adult Activity: April to July.

Larval Hosts: Unknown.

Biology:  

...in the Lost Pines [Bastrop County area] they seem strongly tied to this single food source and never appear in numbers until Stallingia sylvatica (queen's delight) blooms in the meadows and powerline cuts. At that time nearly every plant seems to have one or more of the active black and yellow animals clambering about in search of pollen and mates. Whether coupled or alone the beetles are wary and fly off like wasps when approached (Taber & Fleenor 2003).

Queen's Delight - Stallingia sylvatica L. - Family Euphorbiaceae - Range 

Similar Species: There are 15 species of Typocerus (and three subspecies) all occur north of Mexico, six occur in Texas.

Typocerus acuticauda standishi Knull, 1938
Typocerus balteatus diana Lewis, 2001
Typocerus lunulatus texanus Linsley & Chemsak, 1976
Typocerus octonotatus (Haldeman, 1847)
Typocerus sinuatus (Newman, 1841)
Typocerus zebra (Olivier, 1795)

Etymology: 

typo (G). A type
cera, -t, -to (G). Horn
lunul, =a (L). A crescent

Photos: 

Typocerus l. lunulatus - BugGuide.Net
Typocerus lunulatus texanus Linsley & Chemsak 1976

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. 861 pp.

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

Hoffman, R.L. 1958. The subspecies of Typocerus lunatus, a cerambycid beetle. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington, 60(5): 217-221, 3 figs.

Knull, J.N. 1956. A new species of Typocerus from Florida. Ohio Journal of Science, 56(6): 338.

Lewis, A.E. 2001. A new subspecies of Typocerus balteatus from West Texas (Lepturinae). Occasional Papers of the Consortium Coleopterorumis, 4(1): 11-12, 2 figs.

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

Linsley E.G. & J.A. Chemsak. 1976. Cerambycidae of North America. Part VI. No. 2: Taxonomy and classification of the subfamily Lepturinae. University of California Publications in Entomology 80: 1-186.

Monné, M.A. & F.T. Hovore. 2005. Checklist of the Cerambycidae, or longhorned woodboring beetles, of the Western Hemisphere. 392 pp.

Taber, S.W. & S.B. Fleenor. 2003. Insects of the Texas Lost Pines. Texas A&M University, College Station. 283 pp.

Yanega, D. 1996. Field guide to northeastern longhorn beetles (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae). Illinois Natural History Survey, Champaign, 6: x + 1-174.

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