Buprestis rufipes and Stenelytrana gigas (video)

Goliathus

Goliathus

Pachnoda
Video of a couple of interesting beetles found in the backyard this afternoon - a Jewel Beetle (Buprestis rufipes) and a giant lepturine longhorn (Stenelytrana gigas).

Stenelytrana mimics the Tarantula Hawk Wasp (Pepsis spp.), which is said to have one of the most painful stings of any insect (second only to species such as Paraponera clavata, Synoeca cyanea and Polistes carnifex).



 
These are such a great looking pair! I'm curious what "found in the backyard this afternoon" means. Were they still hanging around a light trap sheet all day? (happens tin my yard sometimes). Or do you just walk around slowly staring at foliage? (my method of bewildering the neighbors) 😄 

 
davehuth said:
These are such a great looking pair! I'm curious what "found in the backyard this afternoon" means. Were they still hanging around a light trap sheet all day? (happens tin my yard sometimes). Or do you just walk around slowly staring at foliage? (my method of bewildering the neighbors) 😄 
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The B. rufipes I just found randomly on the side of a building.  The S. gigas was at a sap flow on a Red Oak (which is where I nearly always find this species).  Late yesterday, I also found a Purpuricenus linsleyi on the same tree.  I had never seen this species before, and it's the first purplescent longhorn I've ever collected.  That's how it is with insects - whenever you think you've seen everything there is to see in your local area, something new turns up!

Hoping to find a Megapurpuricenus magnificus someday, in AZ.  I've heard that you have to be in just the right place, at just the right time, to find them.  I don't think I know even one collector who has a specimen, despite the fact that when they do emerge, it can be in rather large numbers.  They're probably not very easily collected, unless attracting them with bait, but that's true of many beetle species.

 
MasterOogway said:
Oh man, glad I'm not the only one who thinks it's good fun to confuse my neighbors this way.
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These are things I've said to neighbors on my street in the last few weeks:

"If you see someone with a flashlight looking at the fungus growing on your mailbox post, that's me so please don't set your dog after me."

"Can I tie some animal bones to a couple of the trees in your yard to attract carrion beetles?"

"If you don't mind, I'd like to bury a few coffee cans in that swampy section of your lawn to see what millipedes you might have?" 

"If you're going to throw away the flowers you're dead-heading, I'd love to feed a bucket of them to my isopods."

& etc....

 
I had not heard of B. rufipes before this post, but I found one crawling around inside my house just two days after reading this post! Is it possible to breed them in captivity?

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The Mantis Menagerie said:
What do they eat as adults? I might keep it as a pet and then save it as a specimen once it dies. 
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Depending on what's available in your area, you might try offering it leaves of Acer (Maple), Fagus (Beech), Nyssa sylvatica (Blackgum), Quercus (Oak), or Ulmus (Elm).  Those have been reported as host trees of the adults.

 
Goliathus said:
The B. rufipes I just found randomly on the side of a building.  The S. gigas was at a sap flow on a Red Oak (which is where I nearly always find this species).  Late yesterday, I also found a Purpuricenus linsleyi on the same tree.  I had never seen this species before, and it's the first purplescent longhorn I've ever collected.  That's how it is with insects - whenever you think you've seen everything there is to see in your local area, something new turns up!

Hoping to find a Megapurpuricenus magnificus someday, in AZ.  I've heard that you have to be in just the right place, at just the right time, to find them.  I don't think I know even one collector who has a specimen, despite the fact that when they do emerge, it can be in rather large numbers.  They're probably not very easily collected, unless attracting them with bait, but that's true of many beetle species.
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Not sure if you follow the facebook group SWArthropods but judging by the posts, M magnificus had a really good year last summer. There were many collectors that found them. There was even one lady who found one on the windshield of her car! So I guess it was just a good year for them. I know one collector who lives in Tucson and he caught quite a few a few years ago. He was telling me that since he has the host plant in his backyard, he let some loose in his backyard in hopes they would breed and they did! So he know has M magnficus breeding in his backyard. He seems to really know a lot about that species so if you want his info, I can forward you his information. I guess even though they supposedly only come out once every 3 years, each region of AZ is on a different cycle so if you hit the right region, you can get them no matter what year you go. There is a guy on facebook who lives in AZ and he tracks all the regions they are appearing each summer so he knows which region should have an emergence each summer. I'm not really into long horns but I did think all the information about the beetle was interesting. It must be awesome to find stuff like this in your backyard! I live in the city (Los Angeles area) so I can't even imagine that.

 
Garin said:
Not sure if you follow the facebook group SWArthropods but judging by the posts, M magnificus had a really good year last summer. There were many collectors that found them. There was even one lady who found one on the windshield of her car! So I guess it was just a good year for them. I know one collector who lives in Tucson and he caught quite a few a few years ago. He was telling me that since he has the host plant in his backyard, he let some loose in his backyard in hopes they would breed and they did! So he know has M magnficus breeding in his backyard. He seems to really know a lot about that species so if you want his info, I can forward you his information. I guess even though they supposedly only come out once every 3 years, each region of AZ is on a different cycle so if you hit the right region, you can get them no matter what year you go. There is a guy on facebook who lives in AZ and he tracks all the regions they are appearing each summer so he knows which region should have an emergence each summer. I'm not really into long horns but I did think all the information about the beetle was interesting. It must be awesome to find stuff like this in your backyard! I live in the city (Los Angeles area) so I can't even imagine that.
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Many thanks for that info - M. magnificus is definitely on my "top 10" list of beetle species to eventually go looking for in AZ!  Also on the list, are the large click beetles Chalcolepidius apacheanus, Chalcolepidius webbi and Alaus zunianus, as well as some of the less often collected species of Cetoniinae, such as Hologymnetis argenteola.

 
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