Black horned Pine Borer (Callidium antennatum)
Latin Name: Callidium antennatum
Common Name: Black horned Pine Borer
Appearance:
The adult insect is a bluish-black beetle around 15 mm in length and has antennae the same length as the body.
The wing coverings are more leathery than other beetles, and the body shape is flatter. Larvae are off-white, elongate legless grubs with brown heads that resemble most roundheaded wood borers.
Larval damage creates sculptured tunneling beneath the bark that mimics router tracks.
Tunnels made by the blackhorned pine borer and other Callidium species are frequently filled with characteristic, granular frass.
Host plants:
Pines (Pinus species), particularly Austrian pine (Pinus nigra) and ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) (Pinus ponderosa). Other conifers are only frequent hosts.
Territory:
Potentially statewide about pines. It is mostly linked with ponderosa pine, but it may grow in other pines and is frequently transferred in transplants.
Damage caused by Black horned Pine Borer:
Adults mature in early spring and fly to host material, where they deposit their eggs beneath the bark scales of dead trees or seasoned cutwood. The larvae feed in the phloem and sapwood, digging vast, meandering, entangled tunnels and pushing huge amounts of frass through tiny pores in the bark. Pupation happens in lengthy cells clogged with wads of fibrous frass in the wood. Each year, one generation is born.
Life history and Habits:
Winter is spent as a fully developed larva within the trees. Adults can emerge throughout the warm months of the year and have been seen throughout the Front Range as early as May. Adult beetles feed on the sensitive bark of twigs and shoots, while females lay eggs in bark pits. The larvae crawl beneath the bark, leaving broad, wavy trails that heavily gash the exterior wood. These tracks are similar to router tracks. Older larvae construct oval tunnels deep in the woods to spend the winter. Each year, one generation is born.
