{"id":5949,"date":"2015-07-21T17:43:40","date_gmt":"2015-07-21T21:43:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/?page_id=5949"},"modified":"2024-06-06T12:54:24","modified_gmt":"2024-06-06T16:54:24","slug":"sawyer-beetles","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/home-and-garden-ipm\/fact-sheets\/common-name-listing\/sawyer-beetles\/","title":{"rendered":"Sawyer Beetles"},"content":{"rendered":"

The term “sawyer beetles” refers to the genus of long-horned beetles known as\u00a0Monochamus<\/em>.\u00a0 Two species one might encounter in Maine include the Whitespotted Sawyer beetle, <\/strong>Monochamus scutellatus<\/em>, and the Northeastern Pine Sawyer<\/strong>, Monochamus notatus.\u00a0 <\/em>The larvae of these and other Monochamus<\/em> beetles tunnel through the wood of various coniferous trees.<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
Whitespotted Sawyer Beetles<\/b><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Whitespotted Sawyer beetle <\/strong> is primarily a minor pest of coniferous trees, especially white pine, balsam fir, and species of spruce.\u00a0 Other than some of the feeding done to the bark on the undersides of twigs by the adult beetles, it is regarded as a secondary pest because it is trees that are already weakened, dying or dead that the beetles utilize for their larvae.\u00a0 Size<\/strong>: Not counting the antennae, the whitespotted sawyer adults average one inch to an inch and a quarter in ‘body’ length which is notably smaller than the nearly two-inch long northeastern pine sawyer.<\/p>\n

The Northeastern Pine Sawyer<\/strong>, besides being larger than the whitespotted sawyer, is not as dark in color and is described as being a drab shade of gray (see photos below).\u00a0 Size<\/strong>: The northeastern pine sawyer adults are close to two inches in body length, and each antenna measures another two inches in the case of males and three inches in the case of females.\u00a0 It is the largest long-horned beetle we have in our region of the hemisphere.<\/p>\n

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