Longhorn beetle

The longhorn beetles (Cerambycidae), also known as long-horned or longicorns, are a large family of beetles, with over 35,000 species described.[2] Most species are characterized by extremely long antennae, which are often as long as or longer than the beetle's body. In various members of the family, however, the antennae are quite short (e.g., Neandra brunnea) and such species can be difficult to distinguish from related beetle families such as the Chrysomelidae. The scientific name of this beetle family goes back to a figure from Greek mythology: after an argument with nymphs, the shepherd Cerambus was transformed into a large beetle with horns.

Cerambycidae
Temporal range:
Batus barbicornis
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Superfamily: Chrysomeloidea
Family: Cerambycidae
Latreille, 1802 [1]
Subfamilies

Eight; see text

Description

Other than the typical long antennal length, the most consistently distinctive feature of the family is that the antennal sockets are located on low tubercles on the face; other beetles with long antennae lack these tubercles, and cerambycids with short antennae still possess them. They otherwise vary greatly in size, shape, sculpture, and coloration. A number of species mimic ants, bees, and wasps, though a majority of species are cryptically colored. The titan beetle (Titanus giganteus) from northeastern South America is often considered the largest insect (though not the heaviest, and not the longest including legs), with a maximum known body length of just over 16.7 cm (6.6 in).[3]

Biology
Eburia quadrigeminata, the Ivory Marked Borer

All known longhorn beetle larvae feed on plant tissue such as stems, trunks, or roots of both herbaceous and woody plants, often in injured or weak trees.[4] A few species are serious pests. The larvae, called roundheaded borers, bore into wood, where they can cause extensive damage to either living trees or untreated lumber (or, occasionally, to wood in buildings; the old-house borer, Hylotrupes bajulus, is a particular problem indoors).

It is known that many longhorns locate and recognize potential hosts by detecting chemical attractants, including monoterpenes (compounds released en masse by woody plants when stressed), ethanol (another compound emitted by damaged plant material), and even bark beetle pheromones. Many scolytinids share the cerambycid's niche of weakened or recently deceased trees; thus, by locating scolytinids, a suitable host can likely be located as well. The arrival of cerambycid larvae is often detrimental to a population of scolytinids, as the cerambycid larvae will typically either outcompete them with their greater size and mobility, or act as direct predators of them (this latter practice is less common, but has been observed in several species, notably Monochamus carolinensis). Cerambycids, in turn, have been found to play a role in attracting other wood-borers to a host.[5] Borgemeister, et al. 1998, recorded that cerambycid activity in girdled twigs released volatiles attractive to some bostrichids, especially Prostephanus truncatus.[6] A few cerambycids, such as Arhopalus sp., are adapted to take advantage of trees recently killed or injured by forest fires by detecting and pursuing smoke volatiles.

Parasitoids

In North America native Cerambycids are widely the victims of Ontsira mellipes. O. mellipes may be useful in controlling a forestry pest in this same family, Anoplophora glabripennis, that is invasive in North America. (Ontsira is a genus of parasitoid wasps in the Doryctinae.)[7]

Classification
Decora longicorn (Amphirhoe decora)

As with many large families, different authorities have tended to recognize many different subfamilies, or sometimes split subfamilies off as separate families entirely (e.g., Disteniidae, Oxypeltidae, and Vesperidae);[8] there is thus some instability and controversy regarding the constituency of the Cerambycidae.[9] There are few truly defining features for the group as a whole, at least as adults, as there are occasional species or species groups which may lack any given feature; the family and its closest relatives, therefore, constitute a taxonomically difficult group, and relationships of the various lineages are still poorly understood.[10] The oldest unambiguous fossils of the family are Cretoprionus and Sinopraecipuus from Yixian Formation of Inner Mongolia and Liaoning, China, dating to the Aptian stage of the Early Cretaceous, approximately 122 million years ago. The former genus was assigned to the subfamily Prioninae in its original description, while the latter could not be placed in any extant subfamily.[11][12] Qitianniu from the mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber of Myanmar, dating to approximately 100 million years ago, also could not be placed in any extant subfamily.[13]

Gerania bosci
Anoplophora chinensis

Subfamilies

The eight subfamilies are:[14][15]

  • Cerambycinae Latreille, 1802
  • Dorcasominae Lacordaire, 1869 (including former Apatophyseinae Lacordaire, 1869)
  • Lamiinae Latreille, 1825
  • Lepturinae Latreille, 1802
  • Necydalinae Latreille, 1825
  • Parandrinae Blanchard, 1845
  • Prioninae Latreille, 1802
  • Spondylidinae Audinet-Serville, 1832 (including former Aseminae Thomson, 1860)

Notable genera and species
Common tuft bearing longhorn beetle (Aristobia approximator)
  • Acrocinus longimanus – harlequin beetle, a large species where the male has very long front legs
  • Anoplophora chinensis – citrus long-horned beetle, a major pest
  • Anoplophora glabripennis – Asian long-horned beetle, an invasive pest species
  • Aridaeus thoracicus – tiger longicorn (Australia)
  • Cacosceles newmannii - Southern African longhorn beetle that is a surgacane pest
  • Desmocerus californicus dimorphus – valley elderberry longhorn beetle, a threatened subspecies from California
  • Moneilema – cactus longhorn beetles, which are flightless
  • Onychocerus albitarsis – the only known beetle with a venomous sting
  • Petrognatha gigas – giant African longhorn beetle
  • Prionoplus reticularis – huhu beetle, the heaviest beetle in New Zealand
  • Rosalia alpina – Rosalia longhorn beetle, a threatened European species
  • Tetraopes tetrophthalmus – red milkweed beetle, a toxic species with aposematic colors
  • Tetropium fuscum – brown spruce longhorn beetle, an invasive pest species
  • Titanus giganteus – titan beetle, one of the largest beetles in the world

See also
  • List of longhorn beetle (Cerambycidae) species recorded in Britain

References
  1. "Cerambycidae Latreille, 1802". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved June 6, 2011.
  2. "The first long-horned beetle giving birth to live young discovered in Borneo". Science Daily. 11 May 2016. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
  3. Barclay, Max (2010). "Titanus giganteus Linnaeus (1771)". Natural History Museum. Retrieved June 6, 2011.
  4. Kariyanna, B; Mohan, M & Gupta, Rajeev (2017). "Biology, ecology and significance of longhorn beetles (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae)". Journal of Entomology and Zoology Studies. 5: 1207–1212. ISSN 2320-7078.
  5. Allison, Jeremy D.; Borden, John H.; Seybold, Steven J. (2004). "A review of the chemical ecology of the Cerambycidae" (PDF). Chemoecology. 14: 123–150 – via ResearchGate.
  6. Borgemeister, Christian; Goergen, George; Tchabi, Atti; Awande, Symphorien; Markham, Richard H.; Scholz, Dagmar (1998). "Exploitation of a woody host plant and cerambycid-associated volatiles as host-finding clues by the larger grain borer" (PDF). Annals of the Entomological Society of America. 91 (5): 741–747 – via ResearchGate.
  7. "PPQ Scientists Evaluate Wasp's Ability to Detect and Attack the Asian Longhorned Beetle". PPQ (Plant Protection and Quarantine). USDA APHIS. Retrieved 2021-09-07.
  8. Vanin, Sergio Antonio & Ide, Sergio (2002). "Classificação comentada de Coleoptera" [An annotated classification of the Coleoptera]. In C. Costa; S. A. Vanin; J. M. Lobo & A. Melic (eds.). Proyecto de Red Iberoamericana de Biogeografía y Entomología Sistemática PrIBES 2002 (PDF). Monografias Tercer Milenio (M3M) (in Portuguese). Vol. 3. pp. 193–206. ISBN 84-922495-8-7.
  9. Monné, Miguel A. (2006). "Catalogue of the Cerambycidae (Coleoptera) of the Neotropical Region. Part III. Subfamilies Parandrinae, Prioninae, Anoplodermatinae, Aseminae, Spondylidinae, Lepturinae, Oxypeltinae, and addenda to the Cerambycinae and Lamiinae" (PDF excerpt). Zootaxa. 1212: 1–244. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.1212.1.1. ISBN 1-877407-96-8.
  10. Arnett, et al. (2002). American Beetles, Vol. 2. CRC Press, 861 pp.
  11. Wang, Bo; Ma, Junye; McKenna, Duane D.; Yan, Evgeny V.; Zhang, Haichun; Jarzembowski, Edmund A. (2013-08-09). "The earliest known longhorn beetle (Cerambycidae: Prioninae) and implications for the early evolution of Chrysomeloidea". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 12 (5): 565–574. doi:10.1080/14772019.2013.806602. ISSN 1477-2019.
  12. Yu, Yali; Ślipiński, Adam; Reid, Chris; Shih, ChungKun; Pang, Hong; Ren, Dong (January 2015). "A new longhorn beetle (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) from the Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota of Western Liaoning in China". Cretaceous Research. 52: 453–460. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2014.02.019.
  13. Lin, Mei-Ying; Bai, Ming (July 2017). "Qitianniu zhihaoi gen. et sp. nov.: The first cerambycid beetle found in Cretaceous Burmese amber (Coleoptera: Chrysomeloidea)". Cretaceous Research. 75: 173–178. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2017.03.030.
  14. Bouchard, Patrice; Bousquet, Yves; Davies, Anthony E.; Alonso-Zarazaga, Miguel A.; Lawrence, John F.; Lyal, Chris H. C.; Newton, Alfred F.; Reid, Chris A. M.; Schmitt, Michael; Ślipiński, S. Adam; Smith, Andrew B. T. (2010). "Family-group names in Coleoptera (Insecta)". ZooKeys (88): 1–972. doi:10.3897/zookeys.88.807. PMC 3088472. PMID 21594053. Archived from the original on 2011-07-21.
  15. Švácha, P.; Lawrence, J. (2014). "2.4. Cerambycidae Latreille, 1802" (PDF). In Leschen, R.A.B.; Beutel, R.G. (eds.). Handbook of Zoology, Arthropoda: Insecta; Coleoptera, Beetles, Volume 3: Morphology and Systematics (Phytophaga). Berlin/Boston: Walter de Gruyter. pp. 77–177. doi:10.1515/9783110274462.77. ISBN 978-3-11-027446-2.

Further reading
  • Monné, Miguel A. & Hovore, Frank T. (2005) Electronic Checklist of the Cerambycidae of the Western Hemisphere. PDF Cerambycids.com
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