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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Beetles (Coleoptera) » Polyphaga » Series Cucujiformia » Lymexyloidea » Lymexylidae » Melittomma » Chestnut Timberworm (Melittomma sericeum)

Species Melittomma sericeum - Chestnut Timberworm

Classification · Explanation of Names · Size · Identification · Range · Food · Life Cycle · Internet References · Works Cited

Long, brown beetle - Melittomma sericeum

Unidentified Beetle - Melittomma sericeum

Chestnut Timberworm - Melittomma sericeum

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Coleoptera (Beetles)

Suborder Polyphaga

No Taxon (Series Cucujiformia)

Superfamily Lymexyloidea

Family Lymexylidae

Genus Melittomma

Species sericeum (Chestnut Timberworm)

Explanation of Names

Melittomma sericeum (Harris 1838)

sericeum = 'silken'

Size

adults 11-15 mm, mature larvae 15-18 mm(1)

Identification

Range

e US (ME-n.FL to IA-e.TX) - Map (2)(3)(4)(5)(6), rare along the Gulf and s. Atlantic coast, e.g. known from a single FL spmn from the panhandle

Food

hosts: oak, elm, chestnut (American chestnut - Castanea dentata, before its demise, was the preferred host; now chiefly in white oaks)(1)(4)

Life Cycle

probably takes several yrs to mature(1)

Eggs are laid in cracks on the surface of wood. The larvae bore deep into the wood, enlarging their tunnels. Pupation occurs in cells constructed near the surface.(7)

Internet References

iNaturalist (5)

Works Cited

1.	Guide to insect borers in North American broadleaf trees and shrubs Solomon, J.D. 1995. USDA Forest Service Agriculture Handbook. 735 pp.

2.	A distributional checklist of the beetles (Coleoptera) of Florida. Peck & Thomas. 1998. Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Gainesville. 180 pp.

3.	An Illustrated Inventory of the Beetles (Coleoptera) of Lick Creek Park, College Station, Texas Edward G. Riley. 2013. Texas A&M University, Dept. Entomology, College Station.

4.	Beetles of Eastern North America Arthur V. Evans. 2014. Princeton University Press.

5.	iNaturalist

6.	Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)

7.	Eastern Forest Insects Whiteford L. Baker. 1972. U.S. Department of Agriculture · Forest Service.

Contributed by Jim McClarin on 8 January, 2007 - 7:09pm
Additional contributions by Mike Quinn, v belov, Marci Hess
Last updated 20 June, 2025 - 4:48pm

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