Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada

Species Oberea erythrocephala - Leafy Spurge Stem Boring Beetle

Longhorned Beetle - Oberea erythrocephala Oberea? - Oberea erythrocephala Beetle - Oberea erythrocephala Beetle - Oberea erythrocephala Leafy Spurge Stem Boring Beetle - Oberea erythrocephala Beetle - Oberea erythrocephala Another Oberea on Euphorbia esula - Oberea erythrocephala unknown Cerambycidae (Oberea) - Oberea erythrocephala
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Coleoptera (Beetles)
Suborder Polyphaga
No Taxon (Series Cucujiformia)
Superfamily Chrysomeloidea (Longhorn and Leaf Beetles)
Family Cerambycidae (Longhorn Beetles)
Subfamily Lamiinae (Flat-faced Longhorn Beetles)
Tribe Phytoeciini
Genus Oberea
Species erythrocephala (Leafy Spurge Stem Boring Beetle)
Explanation of Names
Oberea erythrocephala (Schrank 1776)
Size
Adult 10-12 mm. Larva may reach 20 mm.
Identification
Range
native to Europe, introduced to NA to control Leafy Spurge (Euphorbia esula), an invasive weed; established in the west(1) to NE(2)
Food
Larvae feed on stems and root crowns of leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula).
Life Cycle
Adults present in early to mid-summer, feed on leafy spurge leaves and flowers. Female chews a hole in the upper part of a leafy spurge stem and lays an egg.
It spends winter as a larva. Larvae feed on roots at the crown.
Remarks
Introduced in 1980(2) to control Euphorbia esula (Leafy Spurge.
Internet References
Montana War on Weeds - Morgan Shaw, 2008
Washington State U.. Integrated Weed Control Project
Works Cited
1.Field Guide to Northeastern Longhorned Beetles (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae)
Douglas Yanega. 1996. Illinois Natural History Survey.
2.The longhorn beetles (Cerambycidae) of Nebraska: New state records, a checklist of known species, and distribution maps.
Stephen M. Spomer. 2014. The Coleopterists Bulletin 68(2): 297-315.