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Bumelia longhorn (Plinthocoelium suaveolens) (video)


Goliathus

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Short video of a Bumelia longhorn (Plinthocoelium suaveolens), found today.  Both sexes are iridescent metallic green, with red and black legs.  Males (like this one) have extremely long antennae.  Although their host tree is common in my area, I've only ever found a few of these beetles (possibly, because they only tend to emerge once the heat and humidity are so stifling that wandering around looking for them is very rough going!  It's a much-sought species by cerambycid collectors, and I didn't even know they existed in my area until I intentionally starting looking for them around 5 years ago.  I've heard that they'll definitely come to bait traps, but I've only ever had any real success finding them sitting on the trunks of their host tree (Sideroxylon lanuginosum).  Like many other longhorns however, they will come to sap flows on some other tree species, such as Red Oak (Quercus buckleyi).

 

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58 minutes ago, aspenentomology said:

Wow, that's gorgeous!! Are you collecting them to preserve or breed?

I keep them as specimens.  The larvae can only live in the root crowns of live Bumelia trees, so captive breeding would be problematic.  P. suaveolens has a rather wide geographic range - it's been found all the way from Delaware to Arizona.  Here's a page with more info about the species - 

https://beetlesinthebush.com/2009/09/28/north-americas-most-beautiful-longhorned-beetle/

Also - http://texasento.net/suaveolens.htm

Some great close-up photos - 

https://live.staticflickr.com/6070/6119335428_57a265c3f1_b.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/6088/6118789963_16769e3f0b_b.jpg

https://farm7.staticflickr.com/6082/6119336024_e44da3c713_b.jpg

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