davehuth
L3
I’ve collected what I take to be 1 male and 2 female Pole Borer Longhorn Beetles (Neandra brunnea).
The females were found in the forest on the trunks of standing dead oak trees and the male came to a black light. It took a while to ID them because they look more like stags than Cerambycids! A beetle pal from the forum finally figured it out for me.
I think the color and smooth shape of this species is very nice, so Im looking for any and all advice about breeding them. There’s some natural history info on BugGuide:
”Habitat- moist decaying wood; larvae bore in trees and structural wood (poles, crossties, etc.) in contact with moist ground; adults may emerge, mate, and lay eggs in the same cavity they occupied as a larva
Food- Hosts: nearly all eastern trees”
Their enclosure now is a damp woody substrate with a few chunks of soft, rotting half-buried beech (what I have on hand atm).
I wonder if the wood chunks are necessary so the larvae can bore galleries, or if maybe a pulverized all-wood sub is sufficient for them so I can see a little better what’s going on and add/change sub as needed?
i know nothing about breeding Cerambycids, or what these adults may eat? Any and all advice would be very appreciated. Thanks!

The females were found in the forest on the trunks of standing dead oak trees and the male came to a black light. It took a while to ID them because they look more like stags than Cerambycids! A beetle pal from the forum finally figured it out for me.
I think the color and smooth shape of this species is very nice, so Im looking for any and all advice about breeding them. There’s some natural history info on BugGuide:
”Habitat- moist decaying wood; larvae bore in trees and structural wood (poles, crossties, etc.) in contact with moist ground; adults may emerge, mate, and lay eggs in the same cavity they occupied as a larva
Food- Hosts: nearly all eastern trees”
Their enclosure now is a damp woody substrate with a few chunks of soft, rotting half-buried beech (what I have on hand atm).
I wonder if the wood chunks are necessary so the larvae can bore galleries, or if maybe a pulverized all-wood sub is sufficient for them so I can see a little better what’s going on and add/change sub as needed?
i know nothing about breeding Cerambycids, or what these adults may eat? Any and all advice would be very appreciated. Thanks!

