Poinciana Longicorn Beetle

Description:

Longhorned beetles (also known as longicorns or longhorn beetles) usually have very long antennae. Some longhorned beetles are pests, as their larvae bore into the wood of living trees, untreated timber, buildings and furniture. These beetles belong to the very large family Cerambycidae which has more than 20 000 species across the world. There are over 1200 Australian species. The Poinciana Longicorn Beetle (shown here) usually has a length of roughly 60mm. This is a very large, broad longhorned beetle with khaki wing-covers and a reddish-brown thorax edged with a row of pointed 'teeth'. The antennae are a little longer than the body.

Habitat:

This species is found in rainforest and open forest in eastern Australia. It is common in Queensland and New South Wales and also occurs on Lord Howe Island. The larvae are huge white grubs found in rotten wood, especially dead Poinciana or fig trees. It is an important pest of pecan trees. The large adults sometimes blunder into house lights.

Notes:

I found this Poinciana Longicorn Beetle scampering in my garden. It was only that I heard the rustling of the leaves that I was made aware of it's presence. At probably just over 2 inches in length, its a respectable size for any beetle, but the nippers on this thing were massive. If it decided to latch on, you would certainly know about it. The last 3 photos in this series are of a dead beetle I found a couple of days later, and it gave me a chance to take a much closer look. (Some information sourced was from the Queensland Museum website under the heading - Longhorned Beetles)