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

Species Xylobiops basilaris - Red-shouldered Bostrichid

Horned powder-post beetle - Xylobiops basilaris Xylobiops basilaris (Say) - Xylobiops basilaris Beetle 2011.05.10.2670 - Xylobiops basilaris even cooler beetle - Xylobiops basilaris Anthribidae? - Xylobiops basilaris Unknown Beetle - Xylobiops basilaris Coleoptera - Xylobiops basilaris Xylobiops basilaris? - Xylobiops basilaris
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Coleoptera (Beetles)
Suborder Polyphaga
Superfamily Bostrichoidea
Family Bostrichidae (Horned Powder-post Beetles)
Subfamily Bostrichinae
Tribe Xyloperthini
Genus Xylobiops
Species basilaris (Red-shouldered Bostrichid)
Explanation of Names
Xylobiops basilaris (Say 1823)
Size
4-7 mm (1)
Identification
Forest Images - Dorsal elytra without distinct pubescence, and the yellow and black or brown areas conspicuously separated; inner two pairs of tubercles along anterior margins of apical declivity of elytra acute or spinose at apices and coarsely punctured between tubercles, the surface of declivity coarsely, evenly punctured in female, with a few very coarse, deep punctures in male; front of head unarmed. (1)

Det. M. A. Quinn, 2013
Range
e. NA to w. TX (QC-FL to ON-IA-TX) / Mex. - Map (1)(2)(3)(4), iNat records w. of Texas are in error
Habitat
Deciduous forests
Food
hosts: wide variety of hardwoods, favors hickories (Carya) and persimmon (Diospyros virginiana); larvae feed mostly in sapwood and to some extent in heartwood, adults often bore into healthy twigs for food and shelter (2)
has been reared from oak, ash, persimmon, hickory, mulberry, bamboo, elm, apple, honeylocust, redbud, black locust, pecan, pear, prickly ash, tamarack, poison sumac, grape, poison ivy, and Eucalyptus. (1)
Life Cycle
Adults bore into the sapwood across the grain just under the bark surface in sapwood. Tunnels may girdle limbs and trunks of small diameter. Eggs are deposited at intervals along the sides of tunnels. Larvae bore along the grain. They spend winter in galleries, mostly as mature larvae, but sometimes as pupae or adults. Adults commonly spend the fall, winter, and spring in galleries within twigs and branches. A generation can develop in 1 year under optimum conditions, but sometimes takes longer. (2)
See Also
generally more elongate than congeners
Internet References
Forest Images - USDA Identification
Works Cited
1.A revision of the North American species of beetles belonging to the family Bostrichidae.
W.S. Fisher. 1950. United States Department of Agriculture Miscellaneous Publications No. 168: 1-157.
2.Guide to insect borers in North American broadleaf trees and shrubs
Solomon, J.D. 1995. USDA Forest Service Agriculture Handbook. 735 pp.
3.Checklist of beetles (Coleoptera) of Canada and Alaska. Second edition
Bousquet Y., Bouchard P., Davies A.E., Sikes D.S. 2013. ZooKeys 360: 1–402.
4.Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)