The longhorned beetle, or as it is also called the woodcutter, is one of the representatives of the order Coleoptera. The longhorned beetle family includes at least 17,000 species of these insects, differing not only in body size, but also in color. These are the Far Eastern longhorned beetle, the Brazilian bigtooth woodcutter, the well-known black beetle, and the Alpine longhorned beetle, which is distinguished by its exquisite beauty.
Interesting!
Representatives of this family are characterized by segmented mustaches, the length of which in some individuals can exceed the size of their own body several times.
Another feature of barbels is their long slender body, hair and wings. After all, some species of woodcutter beetles are capable of flight. But not many people can fly smoothly and quickly.
Features of lumberjacks
Many people have encountered woodworms, which is why they know first-hand what the longhorned beetle looks like. Most of these insects have a body of medium size from 10 to 20 mm. But there are also giants. Thus, a titanium woodcutter can grow to almost 17 cm. Another giant can be called the large-toothed staghorn, which has similar dimensions. The largest beetle in Europe is the carpenter beetle, whose body length reaches 6 cm. On the territory of the Russian Federation, the largest longhorned beetle is the Ussuri relict longhorned beetle, whose body size reaches 11 cm. Photos and names of longhorned beetles are presented below.
Types of beetles
The body of the woodcutter beetle is often black or black-brown in color. But there are representatives whose body is white, pale yellow, gray-blue or green with a barely noticeable pearlescent or metallic tint. Below is a woodcutter beetle in the photo.
Beetles' habitat
Insects of this family are distinguished by a pattern of spots, multi-colored bands or stripes. A photo of an alpine longhorned beetle with an ornament on the elytra can be seen below.
Alpine barbel
On a note! Longhorned beetles have pronounced sexual dimorphism. The description of the male and female varies greatly. Most often, representatives of the fairer sex are distinguished by their larger size, color and length of mustaches.
How to get rid of longhorned pests?
If you notice signs of bark beetles in your home, you should immediately begin to fight them. There are a number of methods for exterminating beetles. All of them are divided into groups - contact and intestinal.
The first group of bark beetle control products only works when there is close contact with the pest. The most effective modern means for solving the problem are insecticides “ Clipper ”, “ Antizhuk ”, “ Empire-20 ”, the active substance of which affects the reproduction function of beetles; they cannot lay eggs and thereby you can stop the growth of their number in the house. The product needs to be poured into cracks, crevices and covered with plasticine. Penetrating into the body of the bark beetle, the drug inhibits metabolic processes in it and the pest dies.
Insecticides are recommended to be used when starting the construction of a wooden house and to be used as a preventative treatment annually. The drugs are poisonous and must be used carefully.
The second group of intestinal woodworm control agents are poisonous baits . They attract beetles, but after trying them they soon die.
Prevention
To protect a wooden house from longhorned beetles, preventative measures are important. Even during construction, it is important to provide a barrier against woodworm attacks. To do this, boards, beams, beams, floors are treated with antiseptic solutions in several layers. It is important to treat wood that is not yet infected. Wooden structures that have already been attacked are treated in the following ways.
Dry steam
The wood in the room is gradually heated with dry steam to a temperature of 80ºC , thereby drying it out and the larvae die. Advantages of the method: the structure and appearance of the wood are not spoiled, fungus and mold are destroyed, it does not leave an unpleasant odor, it penetrates well into hard-to-reach places, the procedure is not expensive. Disadvantages - fire hazard, suitable only for attics and attics.
Fumigation
Treating a room with poisonous gas “ Phosphine ” is a fairly popular method of protecting wood from bark beetles. For this purpose, steam injection units are used. It optimally penetrates the surface of infected structures and kills larvae. The advantage of the method is that over time the gas disintegrates and becomes harmless to humans. It also doesn't smell. After treatment, the room is ventilated for 2 days.
Fumigation (fogation)
The room is treated with a fog generator. A fine aerosol containing a chemical falls on the surface of the wood, but practically does not penetrate inside, which is a disadvantage of this method.
Douching
The antiseptic is injected into wooden structures damaged by the passages of the larvae using a syringe. It is effective if the infection is at the initial stage of development and there are not yet many larvae. For greater effectiveness, treatment must be repeated as the drug evaporates.
Habitats
The favorite habitats of woodcutters are various types of trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants. Beetles can settle in a country house or country house, destroying wooden building elements, furniture and boards. Populations of longhorned beetles in coniferous forests cause enormous harm to forestry, so it is necessary to get rid of them.
Origin of the species and description
Photo: Lumberjack Beetle
Lumberjacks are a very large family of beetles. They belong to the order Coleoptera and occupy fifth place in the number of species. As already noted, today scientists count more than twenty-five thousand varieties. The beetles got their name “woodcutter” due to their special “love” for wood. They not only eat wood, but also build their homes in it.
Interesting fact: The Titan Lumberjack is recognized as the largest beetle in the world. The length of its body can reach twenty-two centimeters. However, such a huge insect cannot be found in museums. The individuals presented for public viewing are no more than seventeen centimeters long.
Due to the fact that the wood is consumed by these beetles as food, they are considered pests. These insects cause enormous damage to human property, various buildings, and the environment. This multifaceted creature is distributed almost throughout the globe. The only exceptions are very cold areas of planet Earth. The largest populations are found in tropical regions.
A unique feature of these animals is their mustache. They are segmented, most often exceeding the length of the body itself by several times. Also a characteristic feature are the wings. However, not all members of the family can use them. Only a few species are endowed with the ability to fly. Woodcutter beetles, which are large in size, often look very clumsy when flying.
Nutrition
What the longhorned beetle eats depends on the type of insect and its habitat. So the woodcutter feeds mainly on pine needles, leaves or pollen. The longhorned bark beetle eats the bark of young branches. Such dietary nutrition promotes the proper maturation of germ cells.
The black house woodcutter gnaws wood, causing irreparable damage to wooden buildings, which is the danger of the barbel to humans. After all, the favorite habitat of pests can be:
- floor boards and ceiling rafters;
- window frames and wood trim;
- attic beams and partitions made of wooden beams.
The woodcutter beetle itself does not pose a danger to humans. It can only cause damage to his property.
Interesting!
Some species of beetles feed on tree sap. And there are also representatives of this family who do not eat at all. Thus, the titanium barbel lives on nutrients that it stores while still in the larval stage.
Do longhorned beetles fly?
Since longhorned beetles are large, their flight is difficult. In order to take off and gain speed and land successfully, the bark beetle must expend a lot of effort. Makes a loud sound during flight. Smaller individuals fly easily and can reach fairly high speeds quite quickly.
The start of flights depends on the environment and weather conditions. Longhorned beetles of southern latitudes begin to fly in early spring, while those of the middle latitudes begin to fly in June and July. However, representatives living in Asian countries begin flying in the fall. Most of the baleen are active in the daytime, willingly fly when it’s hot, the remaining half leave their shelters to fly in the dark. Flying from place to place, they actively seek food for themselves, and during the day they rest in their shelters. The tendency of females and males to migrate depends on the species of longhorned beetle.
Reproduction
After fertilization, the female looks for a suitable place to lay eggs. Most often they are caused by small cracks in wood. At one time, the female can lay up to four hundred eggs, from which voracious larvae appear within 12-15 days.
The larva of the longhorned beetle is often white. On its slightly flattened body, instead of paws, there are special swellings. Thanks to them, the larva moves. The insect has a well-developed prothorax and powerful jaws. They enable the larva to feed and gnaw passages in the wood.
On a note!
The tree bark, in which the larvae live for a long time, serves not only as a home for them. It is also the main source of food. The larvae have such a large appetite that soon all that remains of the building in which they have settled is only dust.
By winter, the larvae pupate, and in the spring, adult longhorned beetles emerge from them. The process of development from egg to mature individual may differ in different species, on average it lasts from 1.5 to 2 years. However, living deep in the material, the larvae are protected from the outside and have the opportunity to live for more than ten years. This time is enough for them to make passages about 30-40 km long. During the day, one larva builds a tunnel, the length of which is about 15-30 mm.
Why are longhorned beetles dangerous?
The longhorned beetle feeds exclusively on bark and plants, it does not bite and poses no danger to human health, but the bark beetle poses a great threat to human property. Hatching from the pupa, the beetle gnaws its way out, so the main sign of the presence of a pest in the home is wood dust and white powder on wooden structures. The wood inhabited by bark beetles is soft, you can see passages on it; if you insert a knife blade into it, it will easily go in without effort.
In complete silence you can hear rustling and clicking sounds - this is the sound of a gnawing beetle. However, the greatest harm to a residential building is caused by the longhorned beetle larva, because it lives in the thickness of the tree, destroying it for many years until it turns into an adult. Even after the tree has completely died, the larvae can remain in it for up to 50 years, feeding from the inside.
Prevention measures
To prevent longhorned beetles from causing damage to your structure, you must:
- carry out a thorough inspection of the wood for the presence of holes made by insects;
- if damage is detected, use special protective equipment;
- keep the room dry, since excessive humidity is one of the favorable living conditions for insects;
- for preventive purposes, wooden surfaces must be periodically treated with special insecticidal agents;
- for construction, use material that is not infected with insects; this is easy to verify when the wood is cleared of bark;
- If wooden structures are heavily infested, they should be replaced with new elements.
By periodically carrying out these simple measures, you can protect your home from pests.
Ways to fight
How do you prefer to fight the longhorned beetle?
ContactIntestinal
Wooden buildings need protection from insects most of all.
Existing means of combating beetles are divided into:
- Contact . A significant part of these products are insecticides based on chlorophos. The drugs act on insects only through direct contact with them.
- Intestinal . The drugs act on barbels through the stomach. They contain sodium fluoride and zinc chloride.
- Fumigants . Sulfur dioxide or vapors.
Protection of wooden buildings from pests begins at the stage of their construction. Structural elements are treated with special means. When forest areas are massively infested with longhorned beetles, microwave radiation installations are used to combat them. It kills all insects and their larvae that have settled inside the trees.
How to fight?
The appearance of swifts in a garden plot threatens with serious negative consequences and the destruction of all vegetation.
The following methods are used to control the pest:
- Mechanical - the formation of a recess in the ground with vertical walls. Bait with poison is placed at the bottom of the ditch - pyrethroids, which are safe for humans and warm-blooded animals.
- Manual collection of insects from a mink. Deep digging of soil in the fall.
- Filling the holes of the mink with unrefined sunflower oil or water emulsion. The solution negatively affects the respiratory organs of the snowbird, it crawls to the surface and dies.
It is difficult to combat snowflakes using traditional chemical methods. Insecticides will not bring the expected effect. The mink goes deep into the soil and has many winding passages. This creates difficulties when treating with aqueous preparations, aerosols and gels.
According to the observations of gardeners and gardeners, chemicals will work much more effectively if applied during the flowering period of apple trees. This time period coincides with the mating season of the Striguns.
Adults are on the soil surface, in contact with the ground and greenery.
Treat with any insecticides of contact-intestinal action:
- Arrivo;
- Karate;
- Diazinon;
- Decis.
Traditional methods
Application depends on the personal preferences of gardeners, the number of beetles on the site:
- Water. Pour at least 10 liters of boiled water into one hole. Adults can survive, but the likelihood of destruction of eggs and larvae increases.
- Vegetable oil. The method is more effective. Any vegetable oil, usually sunflower, is added to the water. They pour it into the hole. The oil envelops the beetle's body and clogs the spiracles. Strigun dies even if he gets out.
The procedure is carried out in the evening or early in the morning, when the beetles are in the hole. For 2 liters of water it takes 100 ml of oil.
You can avoid re-infestation of the garden in the spring by deep digging or plowing the soil. The pest population dies at the development stage - larvae, pupae.
Varieties
Among the extensive group of grinders, the following species predominate:
| View | Size | Coloring | Larvae size | Habitat specifics | Peculiarities |
| Furniture sharpener | 2.5-5 mm | The head and elytra are dark brown, covered with stripes of white dots | White larvae up to 6 mm long | Solid dry wood | The female lays eggs twice a year, the burrows are about 2 mm of oval cross-section |
| House grinder | 2.5-3 mm | Black and dark brown color with golden dots | White larvae, up to 7 mm long | Live in coniferous trees | They are the closest relatives of furniture sharpeners |
| Common comb grinder | 3-5 mm | From red to dark brown | White larvae with protruding jaws. Length reaches 7 mm | They prefer old wood; they pose the greatest danger to antique and rare pieces of furniture, carved frames, etc. | They live in Western Europe and southern Russia |
| Bread grinder | 1.7-3.8 mm | Color red-brown or light brown | Adult larvae can reach 6 mm | Affects dry stocks of flour, grains, cereals, smoked or dried foods (fish, meat, etc.), tobacco, dry medicinal plants | The larvae are omnivorous and can destroy even poisonous plants. Tolerates low temperatures, maintaining viability at temperatures of +4-+5° |
| Soft grinder | 5-6 mm | Brown. Reddish-brown color | Weak pink color, the length of the larvae reaches 6-7 mm | Affects coniferous wood, but is often found in old wood | Not able to penetrate deep under the crust, living in nearby layers |
| Ribbed Grinder | 3.5-5.5 mm | Dark brown, almost black beetles. Sometimes they can be colored reddish-brown | Light yellow, 5-6 mm | They live in damp (not dried) wood | The life activity of this species produces a large amount of drill flour, by which they are identified |
It is difficult to say which variety is more dangerous. All of them are extremely undesirable neighbors and are definitely subject to destruction, despite the subspecies and name.
There is another type of insect that destroys wood - longhorned beetles. They are large, reaching 35 mm in length. Their larvae also live in solid wood, gnawing holes up to 5 mm in diameter.
