Longhorn Beetle by photosynthesis

Photography • Insects • posted on Jul 29, 2014

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Description

Once again, I'm not 100% sure about this one, but a Google image search leads me to believe that this is a longhorn beetle. My wife discovered it crawling near our basement. It was fairly big - about 2 1/2 inches long - & made a loud, weird sound (kind of a clicking or chirping) when I attempted to move it (but move it I did anyway). It then scuttled off into the grass at a pretty good pace. From Wikipedia: "The longhorn beetles (Cerambycidae; also known as long-horned beetles or longicorns) are a cosmopolitan family of beetles, typically characterized by extremely long antennae, which are often as long as or longer than the beetle's body. In various members of the family, however, the antennae are quite short and such species can be difficult to distinguish from related beetle families such as Chrysomelidae. The family is large, with over 20,000 species described, slightly more than half from the Eastern Hemisphere. Several are serious pests. The larvae, called roundheaded borers, bore into wood, where they can cause extensive damage to either living trees or untreated lumber (or, occasionally, to wood in buildings; the old-house borer, Hylotrupes bajulus, being a particular problem indoors). A number of species mimic ants, bees, and wasps, though a majority of species are cryptically colored. The rare titan beetle (Titanus giganteus) from northeastern South America is often considered the largest (though not the heaviest, and not the longest including legs) insect, with a maximum known body length of just over 16.7 centimetres (6.6 in)."

Comments (12)

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giulband

1:28PM | Tue, 29 July 2014

Great macro!!!!

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jayfar

1:35PM | Tue, 29 July 2014

A great shot Claude but I don't see the VW badge !!

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Jean_C

1:38PM | Tue, 29 July 2014

Superb longhorn beetle and splendid macro!

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durleybeachbum

3:34PM | Tue, 29 July 2014

What a beauty!

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Faemike55

5:32PM | Tue, 29 July 2014

Fabulous capture impressive beetle - does he play bass or lead?

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MrsRatbag

7:55PM | Tue, 29 July 2014

If he was clicking he must play drums... ;) Excellent shot, I'm not sure I'd have the nerve to try and relocate it, he's quite a big 'un!

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NightGallery

9:14PM | Tue, 29 July 2014

Nice shot,, I would think it is a type of Long Horn (from my knowledge refers to the long antenna). Great looking insect.

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auntietk

10:55PM | Tue, 29 July 2014

Let's see ... I bet she said, "Claude, come get rid of this crazy thing," rather than, "Claude, come take a picture of this amazing creature I've just discovered!" LOL! Glad you brought your camera. :)

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