Longhorm beetle - Spondylis buprestoides (L.)
From Bugwoodwiki
From: Kolk A., Starzyk J. R., 1996: The Atlas of Forest Insect Pests (Atlas skodliwych owadów lesnych) - Multico Warszawa, 705 pages. Original publication in Polish. English translation provided by Dr. Lidia Sukovata and others under agreement with The Polish Forest Research Institute.
Occurrence: It is a common species in Eurasia, except the most northern parts and the United Kingdom. It occurs also in Siberia, Korea, Mongolia, Japan, the north-eastern China and Sakhalin Island.
Host plants: Conifers, mainly the Scots pine, other pines and sporadically the Norway spruce, larch and fir.
Morphology: Adults are 10-25 mm long. The body is solid, slightly shiny black. The head is wide. Antennae are short. Elytrae are with 2 parallel ridges. The egg is white, elongated, 1.9 mm long. The larva is white, up to 35 mm long, with legs. At the end of 9th segment has characteristic spines (urogomphi) that are widely separated. The pupa is yellowish, up to 24 mm long.
Biology: Adults are active from mid-June to late-August. Adults do not feed and fly during the night. Mating takes place on the ground, close to the oviposition place. Females deposit eggs in basal part of trees, then dig into the soil even up to 3 m in depth and lay eggs on roots. Larvae feed first under the bark where excavate long galleries up to 1 cm wide. Later larvae enter the wood and excavate oval tunnels up to 1 cm wide and 70-80 cm long, packed with frass and fibres. In the root collar tunnels turn perpendicularly and end with oval pupal chambers of 3-4 cm in length constructed in the depth of 0.3-0.8 cm below the wood surface. Pupal chambers are located in the root collar beginning from a few centimeters under the ground up to 75 cm above it. Adults emerge through exit holes of 5-7 mm in diameter in early-June. This species has one generation per 3-4 years. Overwinter always occurs in the larval stage.
Damage: S. buprestoides is not considered an important pest as it infests mainly stumps, thus playing a positive role in wood decomposition. However sporadically it can cause the technical damage of wood in stands much weakened by fire, wind or defoliators. It can also infest wooden materials that are in the contact with soil (poles, fence etc.).
Preventive measures and control: Keeping the amount of the potential breeding material at low level.
 Photo by Robert Dzwonkowski, , Bugwood.org |  Photo by Stanislaw Kinelski, , Bugwood.org |
 Photo by Stanislaw Kinelski, , Bugwood.org |  Photo by Stanislaw Kinelski, , Bugwood.org |
 Photo by Stanislaw Kinelski, , Bugwood.org |  Photo by Stanislaw Kinelski, , Bugwood.org |
 Photo by Stanislaw Kinelski, , Bugwood.org |
