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Photo#273684
Unknown Bark Beetle? - Callidium violaceum - female

Unknown Bark Beetle? - Callidium violaceum - Female
Pottstown, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, USA
May 8, 2009
I found this male and another male and female on a pine(?)bark planter box that I'd purchased. Sorry for the poor quality photo, I'm still having trouble with my new camera. The beetle is black, but in good light has blue/green iridescence. The underside in completely black. Size of the body and head is 15mm x 5mm. If they are good bugs, I would like to release them in the garden.

Thanks, Bellatrix

Moved
Moved from Callidium.

Callidium -- a very nice longhorn (we don't have man
(we don't have many of them in the guide, and none from the east!
can't tell you species, although the beetle reminds me of the Eurasian C. violaceum.
pls fill location and date fields -- this may be an interesting find!

 
ID confirmed by Doug Yanega: C. violaceum

 
Callidium violaceum
Sorry, first time posting a picture! I guess I missed the date/location field.

I found it near Pottstown, PA today and yesterday. I bought some rough bark planter boxes and left them in the car. Yesterday, one of the beetles dropped in my lap as I was doing 65mph down the highway. I didn't get a good look at it then :). Today I pulled out the planter boxes and found all the beetles. I'd already dumped one in the garden when I found the others, including a breeding pair. If they are from Eurasia, I don't want to release them into the wild. I probably should call the Agway and find out where the planters were imported from.

The google pictures of Callidium Violaceum do look very much like my beetles.

Any idea what I should do with them?

 
Bella-
i've just learned that [1] C. violaceum has long established all over the American Northeast, and [2] there are at least 3 more aboriginal spp. in our area that are pretty tough to tell apart... -- which, for purposes of our discussion, means that no harm will be done if you release any into the environment :-]
but why are these so scarcely represented in the Guide -- that i still don't get...

 
collect them...
...and call the Agway, whatever that may be :-]
i'm sure they will pass the specimens to experts for ID. keep me posted!

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