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BugGuide Gathering
Smoky Mountains
University of Tennessee Biological Field Station
August 8-10, 2008
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Photos from the last gathering (Minnesota 2007)

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Subfamily Prioninae

Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Coleoptera (Beetles)
Suborder Polyphaga (Water, Rove, Scarab, Longhorn, Leaf and Snout Beetles)
Superfamily Chrysomeloidea (Long-horned and Leaf Beetles)
Family Cerambycidae (Longhorned Beetles)
Subfamily Prioninae
Size
25-70 mm
Identification
Large and robust Longhorns, usually brown to black. Antennae long, prominent, sometimes flattened. Often sexually dimorphic, males having large, strong jaws. Presumably these are used in intra-specific fights.
Remarks
Nocturnal, attracted to lights. Larvae usually feed on rotting wood, often wood in contact with soil, such as roots. Tree-associated species often have gregarious larvae.

This subfamily could be called "really big borers".
Print References
Dillon, p. 575, plate LVII (2)

1996. Chemsak, A.J. Illustrated Revision of the Cerambycidae of North America. Vol. I, Subfamilies Parandrinae, Spondylidinae, Aseminae, Prioninae. Wolfsgarden Press, Burbank, ix+150pp., 10 pls.

1962. Linsley E.G. The Cerambycidae of North America. Part II. Taxonomy and classification of the Parandrinae, Prioninae, Spondylinae and Aseminae. Univ. Calif. Publ. Entomol., 19:1-102, 1 pl., 34 figs.