Howdy, BugFans,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
BugFan Freda photographed this astonishing beetle while she was on vacation Up North. It\u2019s in the family Buprestidae, the Metallic wood-boring beetles, aka the Jewel beetles.\u00a0The larvae, which have a flat area behind their heads, contribute another name\u2014the Flat-head borers. It\u2019s a family we haven\u2019t visited for a long time, but one that\u2019s garnered some attention in the past decade or so because of a small, sparkly Buprestid called the Emerald ash borer (EAB)<\/a>\u00a0that\u2019s in the process of killing 99.9% of Wisconsin\u2019s ash trees. There are about 750 species of Buprestids in North America and almost 15,000 globally. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Introducing the Lined Buprestid (Buprestis striata<\/em>) \u2013 a story in three (diminishing) parts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The BugLady loves the etymology of entomology (well, the etymology of just about anything, really).\u00a0 Buprestidae comes from\u00a0buprestis<\/em> which is Greek for \u201cburn cow,\u201d referencing a poisonous insect. According to Nicolay and Weiss, in an article published in the Journal of the New York Entomological Society in 1918, \u201c’The Buprestis of the ancients, as its name signifies in Greek, was a poisonous insect which being swallowed with grass by grazing cattle, produced a violent inflammation, and such a degree of swelling as to cause the cattle to burst.\u2018 (Harris). Linnaeus applied this name to the family in spite of the fact that none of its members is poisonous, and they are rarely if ever taken on grass.<\/em>\u201d\u00a0Apparently, the Buprestids were being blamed for the antics of Blister beetles, in the family Meloidae<\/a>. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Buprestids have long, flat, bullet-shaped bodies. Their elytra (wing covers) are often pitted, ridged, or lumpy, and their antennae are serrate<\/a>, but are often tucked close to their body.\u00a0Their pale, legless larvae mostly live and feed within their host plants and are seldom seen.\u00a0Most of the wood-boring Buprestid species favor dead or dying trees, but some species prefer herbaceous plants, and a few make galls.\u00a0The adults of many species are day-flying (they\u2019re strong flyers) and feed on nectar, pollen, or vegetation.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although many are drab in color, some are spectacular:\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n The iridescence results not from pigments, but from the play of light on nanostructures in the cuticle, which explains why you experience a changing light show as you walk around the insect.\u00a0Alas, for them, their colors make them highly desirable to insect collectors and as living jewelry (yes, on tiny chains, attached to pins). Some people use the elytra to create often-massive artistic displays<\/a>. Spectacular, yes, but also beautiful when still attached to a living organism. There\u2019s a brisk online trade in Buprestids and other dramatic insects, and the excuse that “Well, it was dead when I bought it<\/em>\u201d is both specious and self-serving, since each purchase sends someone back out to capture more.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Female Buprestids oviposit on tree bark and in bark crevices, and when the eggs hatch, the larvae tunnel into the tree and nibble winding tunnels called galleries into the wood under the bark. Their tunnels are packed with sawdust and frass pellets that they leave behind as they travel.\u00a0They may live as larvae for several years before pupating under the bark and emerging as adults.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some wood-boring buprestids are famous for making surprise appearances.\u00a0Seems that if it\u2019s in a tree when it\u2019s harvested, the lumber-drying process may cause a larva to go into diapause\/dormancy\/developmental delay\u2014sometimes for many years\u2014before it completes its metamorphosis and emerges from flooring or a desk or the wooden framework of a building.\u00a0The (known) record was a beetle that emerged 51 years after the larva was believed to have entered the wood.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are about 80 species in the genus\u00a0Buprestis<\/em>\u00a0worldwide – 26 in North America – and some are pretty spiffy:\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Their life stories are typical, with larvae spending one or more winters under the bark of dead and dying trees (mostly conifers, but some use beech, poplar, maple, and oak).\u00a0Pupae and adults may also overwinter there.\u00a0The larvae contribute ecosystem services by assisting in the decay of logs, and their tunnels host saprophytic fungi that break down cellulose, which also makes it easier for them to feed.\u00a0 They don\u2019t technically kill trees, but they might hurry the demise of damaged ones. Adults die soon after mating.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Of course, their taxonomy is in a state of flux, and apparently has been for a while.\u00a0Back in 1918,\u00a0Nicolay and Weiss wrote of a taxonomist who made an exhaustive study of the genus in 1909 and who was, in their opinion, so carried away by all the different color variants that he described a whole bunch of questionable new species, some of whose ranges coincided with state lines. (\u201cThe result of this was a multitude of new species, the validity of most of which may be justly questioned by students who demand at least one good, constant character.<\/em>\u201d) In reference to the beetles\u2019 color, they also pointed out that \u201cMr. W. J. Chamberlin, who has carried on extensive experiments in the breeding of various buprestids, has secured from one female of Buprestis aurulenta, a series of forms ranging from entirely green to a uniform bronze.<\/em>\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here are some of the colors that the Golden buprestid (Buprestis aurulenta<\/em>) comes in:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Buprestis striata<\/em>\u00a0(the species name,\u00a0striata<\/em>, comes from the Latin word \u201cstriatus<\/em>,\u201d meaning grooved, furrowed, or striped) is found in a patchwork of mostly-eastern states from Florida to Texas to Minnesota to Maine, plus southern Canada.\u00a0The species are most fond of pine, but has been found on spruce and hemlock.\u00a0They are one-half to three-quarters of an inch long and, according to\u00a0bugguide.net<\/a>, and come in \u201ccopper, metallic purple, or bright rainbow hues<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Adults emerge from under the bark in spring, looking for a conifer, preferably a pine, that\u2019s been dead for a year or so. According to Evans in\u00a0Beetles of Eastern North America, the \u201cLarva develops in solid or rotten pine.\u00a0Adults active in spring and found on needles or in beach drift<\/em>.\u201d Adults sometimes excavate the sapwood of living wood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nicolay and Weiss present us with two wonderful anecdotes.\u00a0 One is a report from Europe of a species of Crabronid\/Square-headed wasp,\u00a0Cerceris bupresticida<\/em>, that specializes in collecting and caching Buprestid beetles for their egg chambers (members of the genus Cerceris are sometimes called \u201cbeetle wasps\u201d), \u201cDufour unearthed in a single field, thirty nests of Cerceris bupresticida which were filled with several species of Buprestis comprising 400 individuals and none of any other genus (Packard). In a fascinating account of the habits of Cerceris bupresticida, Fabre quoting Dufour \u2026\u2026. states that the cleanliness and freshness of the beetles which she buries testify that they are seized just as they emerge from their wooden galleries.<\/em>\u201d Dufour was a 19th<\/sup>century entomologist.\u00a0Here she is with a Buprestid<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n The second story involves an account from 1890 of a beetle that apparently emerged in a clothing store \u201cand had died after cutting eight holes through a pair of heavy woolen pantaloons. The editor replied that it had probably emerged from wood-work and had cut the clothing in an effort to escape.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thanks, Freda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n BIG Shout-Out to the folks at 51ÁÔÆæ who make each episode look great in the archives on the 51ÁÔÆæ Field Station website and who have an inordinate number of links to deal with this time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The BugLady<\/em><\/p>\n\n\nBuprestids\u2014The Family<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Lined Buprestid\u2014The Genus<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Lined Buprestic\u2014The Species<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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