Calloides nobilis nobilis (Harris)

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 : 742

Calloides nobilis nobilis (Harris) . New larval host

records.

This rarely encountered species was reported from Quercus rubra L., Castanea spp. ( Fagaceae ), and Fraxinus americana L. (Linsley and Chemsak 1997), and Quercus velutina Lam. (MacRae and Rice 2007) . Craighead (1923) gives a description of the biology.

JV found this species to be common in fire-killed stems of Q. ilicifolia and trunks of younger Quercus coccinea Muenchh. , Quercus alba L., and Quercus montana Willd. in the hills around Jim Thorpe, Carbon Co., PA, where large areas have undergone controlled burns. Smaller trees were killed by fire, but their wood was only mildly damaged, and the root system remained alive, sprouting new shoots around the base ( Fig. 2A ). The larvae bore below ground-level, within or adjacent to the living tissue. Frass-filled galleries were found under the bark of roots and extend into the main trunk where the larva constructs a long, empty tunnel, typically towards the center of the trunk ( Fig. 2B, C ). This long, empty tunnel extends above ground, up to 50 cm, but usually much less than that. At the top, the tunnel turns sharply towards the surface ( Fig. 2E, G, H ). The larva chews an emergence hole all the way through the bark and seals it with a fibrous plug. The plug is positioned in the tunnel’ s turn ( Fig. 2E, G, H ). Consequently, it is more difficult to locate in thicker stems ( Fig. 2F–H ), but easier to observe in thinner stems ( Fig. 2D, E ). The emergence hole is oval, usually parallel with the grain but sometimes somewhat sideways ( Fig. 2F , top hole).

In winter, mature larvae were found at the bottom of the tunnel, typically around ground level. At that time, the exit hole was already prepared for future emergence, suggesting that it was made in the summer or fall the preceding year. By mid-May, all larvae transformed into pupae. By early June, mostly adults (teneral or fully developed) were found in their pupal cells, with a few having already emerged by then.

Cyrtophorus verrucosus (Olivier) . New larval host records.

The larvae of this polyphagous species mine centrally, typically in dead parts of living trees and shrubs or in lower parts of dead stems that are not rotten but still retain some moisture due to contact with the soil. It overwinters as an adult and emerges in early spring. JV observed larvae in the lower parts of dead stems of Shepherdia canadensis (L.) Nutt. ( Elaeagnaceae ), often going down into the roots, sometimes in the transition zone between living and dead tissue, on the sand dunes in MI: Leelanau Co. They were also found in the lower parts of thick (> 2 cm), dead stems of Vaccinium corymbosum L. ( Ericaceae ) from PA: Warwick Co., Park. Larvae were also encountered in the transition zone between living and dead wood of Hamamelis virginiana L. ( Hamamelidaceae ), in dead scar tissue from deer damage on a small living trunk of Celtis occidentalis L. ( Cannabaceae ), and in a splinter off a fallen Q. rubra , all from PA: Montgomery Co., Green Lane.

Figures

Fig. 2. Larval habits of Calloides nobilis nobilis. A) Fire-killed oak with new shoots around its base utilized by the beetle (inset shows exit holes), B–C) Prepupal burrows in the center of the stem, D and F) Emergence holes cut by the larva through the bark, the plug is visible in D but not in F, E, G–H) Emergence holes and fibrous plugs in cross section.