Long-horned beetles

Some species of long-horned beetles are pests, since their larvae feed on living or dead plant tissue and wood – often boring tunnels in the branches and trunks of dead, diseased, fallen or felled trees and shrubs. The adults feed on mushrooms, leaves, bark, sap, fruit and flowers.

The larvae of certain large species living in dead and nutrient-poor trees develop slowly and may take several years to mature. They are often symbiotically associated with micro-organisms that help them digest the wood.

When you pick up a long-horned beetle you may hear it make a characteristic sound, which it produces by rubbing the edge of its pronotum (the front part of the thorax) on another, ridged part of the thorax. The larvae can also sometimes be heard boring into wood.

While the introduction of exotic long-horned beetles is troubling, it is also a pity that we now see certain native species less frequently. A recent study on long-horned beetles in Ontario found that 30 out of 124 known species in the province had not been caught since 1950. The disappearance of forest habitats may be partly responsible.