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Flat headed wood borer Geotagged,South Africa,Spring Click/tap to enlarge Promoted

Flat headed wood borer

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    comments (5)

  1. View Ferdy Christant's profile
    Ferdy Christant
    Lion
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    That is incredible! Do you know a bit more about them? Posted 9 years ago
  2. View Msalicat's profile
    Msalicat
    Giant Tortoise
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    Unfortunately I don't know anything about them but I found this on Wikipedia. If it's endemic to Japan I don't know what it's doing here?

    Chalcophora japonica, or ubatamamushi in Japanese (Japanese kanji: 姥玉虫, katakana: ウバタマムシ; lit. 'nanny jewel bug'), also known as the flat-headed wood-borer, is a metallic, bullet-shaped, woodboring beetle of the Buprestidae family. It is endemic to Japan.

    Habitat and appearance

    This insect is commonly found on the islands of Honshū, Shikoku and Kyūshū. The white, legless larvae are tadpole-shaped and grow to 8–50 millimetres (0.3–2.0 in) in length,[1] while adults reach a length of 24–40 millimetres (0.9–1.6 in) in length[2] and have brown and black stripes with gold flecks running the length of the body. This species is present from May through August and is attracted to sun, preferring to fly during the hottest part of the day, feeding on young buds and tree leaves.[1]

    Reproduction
    The larvae are ideally adapted to woodboring, being dorsally flattened with a broad thorax. Females lay approximately 75 eggs in the crevices of bark or on wounded trees and sometimes in the exposed beams of older houses where they become serious pests. The larvae tunnel under the tree bark where they vigorously feed on wood. The larval stage of this insect may last for many years. Occasionally males are selectively killed at the embryo stage by bacteria known as Wolbachia. This can result in a limited number of males in the population. Females lacking a male can then reproduce using an asexual form of reproduction known as parthenogenesis.[1]
    I showed my hubby a pic of the beetle and he said it looks like a "click beetle"

    Sorry I'm not much help
     Posted 9 years ago, modified 9 years ago
    1. View WildFlower's profile
      WildFlower
      Lion
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      Chalcophora japonica is not likely to be found in South Africa. It should be another species. Posted 9 years ago
  4. View morpheme's profile
    morpheme
    Lion
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    It appears that there are many species of this type of wood borer, with a flat headed grub, world wide (there are North American ones - Pacific wood borer), so I'm thinking that this must be a different species. One possibility looks like Hylotrupes bajulus, which is present in South Africa, thought imported. I'm not sure, but I suspect that there are others with a similar grub. If you can find a bug field guide specific to your area you may find more. Posted 9 years ago, modified 9 years ago
    1. View WildFlower's profile
      WildFlower
      Lion
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      Hylotrupes bajulus larvae don't look like this
      http://www.barkbeetles.org/browse/subject.cfm?SUB=884
      http://www1.montpellier.inra.fr/CBGP/insectes-du-patrimoine/?q=en/fiche-insecte/hylotrupes-bajulus       Posted 9 years ago

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By Msalicat

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Uploaded Nov 28, 2015. Captured Nov 7, 2015 11:57 in R388, Hopetown, 8750, South Africa.
country flag of South Africa Explore South Africa 1,841 673 0
  • PENTAX K-5 II
  • f/8.0
  • 1/200s
  • ISO200
  • 250mm