Longhorn Beetle

(Cerambycidae). The commonest insect belonging to this family is Hylotrupes bajulus also known as the 'large woodworm'. It is the most harmful species to wood and is very extensive. It attacks the outer bark of conifers. As a consequence of this species of tree that are not hardened, like firs and spruces, can be totally destroyed whereas trees with inner bark, pines, cedars etc., only have their outer bark attacked. It is the insect that causes the most damage on wood in Europe.

 

The adult of this species can reach 10-20 mm in length. It ids browny-black in colour and is characterised by two large antennae in the middle part of its upper body.

 

After fertilisation, the females lay their eggs, between 200 and 500, in the grooves of the wood and the spaces between the joins.

 

When the eggs hatch, small larvae emerge and these penetrate the wood from which they obtain nourishment. These larvae can reach lengths of 20-22 mm and measure approximately 6 mm in diameter.

 

The larvae go through a pupa stage before transforming into the adult insect and they emerge fron the wood through oval shaped orifices 5-7 mm in diameter in order to reproduce.

The larvae make oval shaped tunnels as they penetrate the wood, following always the direction of the fibre of the wood, and filling these tunnels with a compact sawdust.

 

The length of their life cycle is variable, lasting anything from 2 to 12 years, and is dependent on temperature and the nutritious value of the wood they are attacking.

 

The effective treatment of Longhorn Beetle infestation is different to that used for woodworm. It consists in the injection of insecticide under high pressure and very deep into the wood since the tunnels the larvae have made can be very long.

 

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