Purpuricenus opacus (Knull)

Heffern, Daniel J., Vlasak, Josef & Alten, Ronald L., 2018, Larval Host Plant Records, Distributional Records, and Biological Information on North American Cerambycidae (Coleoptera), The Coleopterists Bulletin 72 (4), pp. 739-750 : 746

Purpuricenus opacus (Knull) . First larval host

record and new state record.

Until the 1980s, this species was known from only a few specimens. Numerous specimens were collected after 1990 from TX: Jeff Davis Co., Davis Mts. by D. G. Marqua in fermenting sugar traps ( MacRae 2000). The late Dave Marqua collected all of his specimens near his residence located in Limpia Canyon at about 1,800 m elevation. Two specimens were reared by R. M. Gemmill ( RMGC) from NM: Eddy Co. , Lincoln National Forest , 1 mi. S Hwy 137 on Klondike Rd. Gemmill (personal communication) collected dead/dying oak ( Quercus ) branches on 29-III-1998, and adults emerged (indoors) in June and August 1998. This location is close to the Texas / New Mexico border, suggesting that this species may occur farther northwest into the Sacramento Mountains of New Mexico .