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FAMILY CERAMBYCIDAE
- This page contains pictures and information about Acacia Longicorn Beetles that we found in the Brisbane area, Queensland,
Australia.
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 - Body length female 30mm, male 20mm
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- In mid summer, on those young Acacia trees in Mt Cotton, we found a few of those Longicorn
Beetles. Some of them are actively moving around. When disturbed, some dropped
onto the ground and played dead, some slowly flied away.
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- They appeared only in a short period of time in mid summer. A year later in
the same area, we easily found a lot of them.
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- They
have very long antennae, typically 11 segmented. They have obvious strong
mandibles for chewing. Also notice its notched eyes and its antenna arising
within the notch. This is the characteristic of all longicorn beetles.
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- On Dec 2005, we found a Acacia Longicorn Beetle in Karawatha
Forest. It was feeding on a small Acacia tree. It was biting off the skin of
some young stems. We found only one beetle in the near by area.
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- The
colour and patterns were slightly different than those we found in Mt
Cotton.
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- The
beetle was very slow moving. When disturbed, the beetle played dead.
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- On Dec 2008 we found them again on gum leaves. There were three
resting on the stem. Two of them were mating.
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- Then
we realized that the male and female are different size and colours. We found
both of them individually and thought they were different species.
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Male
- We found the male separately and thought they were different
species.
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- Pictures were also taken in Karawatha Forest during mid summer.
Mimicking larger
animal's face
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- When
looking at the beetle with the front view, we noticed why there are the round
dome on each shoulder. Those domes mimic the eyes of a larger animal. The
beetle spends long time on stem feeding plant skin. It will most likely
encounter its predators, such as a bird, from above. The mimicking larger
animal's face may scare away its predators. We have more information
about face mimicking in this page.
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- Reference:
- 1. Cerambycidae, subfamily Lamiinae - lifeunseen.com, by Nick Monaghan.
- 2. Specimen Image Index - Insect Reference Collection Database - ICDB, Western Australian Department of Agriculture.
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