Guardian Nature School Team Contact Blog Project Noah Facebook Project Noah Twitter

A worldwide community photographing and learning about wildlife

Join Project Noah!
nature school apple icon

Project Noah Nature School visit nature school

Cottonwood Borer

Plectrodera scalator Fabricius

Description:

"Adult beetles can be found on and around host plants during the summer. They are large (1 1/4 inch long), robust longhorned beetles with black antennae as long or longer than the body. The body is beautifully marked with a bold pattern of black rectangular areas on a creamy white to yellow background. Larvae are legless, cylindrical (oval in cross section), creamy-white bodies and brown to black headed, growing to 1 ½ inch long. There are a great many other cerambycid beetles that attack trees and other plants, but few others have larval stages that feed on roots or are larger than the cottonwood borer. Larvae of root borers, such as the tilehorned prionus, Prionus imbricornis (Fabricius), attack apples, Prunus (peaches, plums, etc.), pears, pecans, poplars, and other trees, by feeding in the crown and larger roots. They develop over a period of 3 to 5 years. Heavily-infested mature trees, particularly in sandy soils, slowly decline and die. Adult beetles are dark brown, over 1-1/2 inches long and their antennae are not as long as the body. They do not feed, are active at night and emerge in June and July." ( Information Source: http://insects.tamu.edu/fieldguide/bimg1...)

Habitat:

"Mouthparts are for chewing. Cottonwood borers primarily infest cottonwood, but also occur on poplars and willows. Larvae (grubs) tunnel around the crown and buttress roots. Galleries, at and below the soil line, vary in length and form tunnels up to 8-inches long to 2- to 3-inch diameter oval areas, depending on tree size and infestation site. They are often packed with wood shavings (frass). Adults can be found on infested host plants during the daytime." ( Information Source: http://insects.tamu.edu/fieldguide/bimg1...)

Species ID Suggestions



Sign in to suggest organism ID

No Comments

Shadowspider1
Spotted by
Shadowspider1

Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA

Spotted on Jul 12, 2011
Submitted on Oct 11, 2011

Related Spottings

Cottonwood borer Cottonwood borer Cottonwood borer Cotton Wood Borer Beetle

Nearby Spottings

Royal Starling Spotting Diamond backed water snake Bald eagle
Noah Guardians
Noah Sponsors
join Project Noah Team

Join the Project Noah Team