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Family: Cerambycidae (longicorn beetles, timber beetles)
Life > Eukaryotes > Opisthokonta > Metazoa (animals) > Bilateria > Ecdysozoa > Panarthropoda > Tritocerebra > Arthopoda > Mandibulata > Atelocerata > Panhexapoda > Hexapoda
> Insecta
(insects) > Dicondyla > Pterygota > Metapterygota > Neoptera > Eumetabola >
Holometabola > Coleoptera
(beetles)
> Polyphaga > Superfamily: Chrysomeloidea
Striking beetles with distinctive long, thin antennae
that can be up to 4 times the length of the body. They are small to very large
in size (3-100mm). The colouration varies. The nocturnal species tend to be
cryptic coloured and the diurnal species are often brightly coloured or metallic
coloured.
Adults feed on wood, roots, pollen, leaves or nectar. Eggs are laid in,
stems, roots and timeber - dead or living. Larvae then burrow into the wood and
this family therefore includes many timber pests.
Some subfamilies in southern Africa
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Subfamily Cerambycinae.
Phoracantha semipunctata. Larvae feed in
Eucalyptus wood.
[image by H. Robertson ©].
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Subfamily Cerambycinae.
Promeces longipes. Metallic longicorn beetle, 14mm. Photographed in South
Coast Strandveld.
[[image by H. Robertson ©].
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Subfamily Lamiinae
Phryneta spinator, Fig borer,
35mm.
[image by H. Robertson ©].
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Subfamily Lamiinae. Tragocephala
formosa, Orange-tree borer, 30mm.
[image by M. Picker & C.
Griffiths ©, from Field Guide to Insects of South Africa,
used with permission]. |
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Subfamily Lamiinae.
Ceroplesis capensis, 37mm.
[image by M. Picker & C.
Griffiths ©, from Field Guide to Insects of South Africa,
used with permission].
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Subfamily Lamiinae.
Prosopocera lactator, Turquoise Longhorn, 33mm.
[image by M. Picker & C.
Griffiths ©, from Field Guide to Insects of South Africa,
used with permission]. |
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Subfamily Prioninae.
Acanthophorus confinis, Giant Longhorn, 55-90mm.
[image by A. Weaving ©,
from Field Guide to Insects of South Africa, used with
permission]. |
Subfamily Prioninae.
Acanthophorus confinis larva.
[image by A. Weaving ©,
from Field Guide to Insects of South Africa, used with
permission].
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Publications
Page by Margie Cochrane |
