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Species Melittomma sericeum - Chestnut Timberworm

Melittomma sericeum - male Long Small Beetle - Melittomma sericeum Melittomma sericeum - male Long, brown beetle - Melittomma sericeum Beetle - Melittomma sericeum - female Unidentified Beetle - Melittomma sericeum 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
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.