Callona rimosa

[58chevy]

This is one of the largest and showiest cerambycids in the USA but is not pictured in any of my beetle books. The probable reason is that its range is restricted to southern Texas and it is difficult to collect. The larvae bore into the roots of mesquite trees. The best way to capture them is to dig the adults out of the tree roots just before they emerge in early May. Once they fly off, you are unlikely to find them. There is only one brood per year. The elytra are metallic green, the legs are orange & black, and the head & pronotum are black. There is also a rare red form (metallic red elytra). The specimens in my collection range in size from 35mm to 38mm. If you've never seen one, here's a link:
bugguide.net/node/view/116695

[bandrow]

58chevy,

Indeed!! One of the finest cerambycids in the U.S. fauna. I've never collected in Texas early enough in the spring to be able to look for these. Most of my TX trips have been in Sep/Oct and from late May to mid-June.

While much more common, Plectrodera scalator is a stunner too - I think since it's so common that it's easy to forget just how spectacular they are. And the two rare Texas 'bycids that I still hope to see someday? Goes fisheri and Plinthocoelium schwarzi...

Cheers!
Bandrow

[leptraps]

I was living in Mississippi in the mid-1990's and I made a trip to South Texas one spring. I was looking for several Hairstreaks and a list of moths a mile long. However, we set out several Light Traps and collected several individuals of Callona rimosa in each Light Trap. We also found them feeding on the flowers of Eupatorium dubium (?) along a dirt road where we were collecting.

They are without a doubt a stunning beetle.

[bandrow]

Hi Leroy,

I've never heard of them being taken in UV traps - that's really interesting! Where in Texas were you at the time? Makes perfect sense that they were on blooms too - lots of the trachyderines visit blooms...

Cheers!
Bandrow

[58chevy]

I've never heard of C. rimosa being collected at light traps either. Sounds a lot easier than digging them out of tree roots. Goes fisheri and Plinthocoelium schwarzi are on my wish list also. Another outstanding cerambycid, Stenaspis verticalis, is flying now. Gotta get out there.

[bandrow]

58chevy - I've been fortunate enough to collect Stenaspis a few times in the fall, but only a couple at a time, and in different ways each time. First time was in the Sabal Palm Sanctuary - the adults were flying fairly high around blooming vines of Cissus; the second was near Sinton on Baccharis; and the last time was near Riviera Beach on blooms of Lantana. They're a wonderful sight no matter what they're doing!!

Cheers!
Bandrow

[leptraps]

I am sure I collected this species in a Light Trap. I thought I remembered who was with me and I gave him the specimens. I called him just to be sure and he said it wasn't him. I have numerous Schmidt Boxes full of bugs I collect in my traps. I save beetles for a friend in Mississippi. The individual who took most of the insects (All field pinned) that I collect lives in Florida. I do not keep everything, just what others have\who ask me to keep for them.

The problem I have always had with retaining specimens for others, it always seems to be a one Way street.

[bandrow]

Hi Leroy,

My first reaction was that you must be thinking of something else, as Callona doesn't come to light. But then, there is almost nothing in Texas that could be confused with that species. Plinthocoelium is similar, but it doesn't (is not known to!) go to lights either.

In all my years collecting, I learned that anything can come to light!! I've seen lots of butterflies, lots of odonates, lots of diurnal buprestids, etc. show up on my sheet. In one exceptional case, I ran a light trap in West Virginia, and got nearly 60 specimens consisting of three species of Pidonia - a diurnal lepturine cerambycid genus. It turns out the trap was set under a blooming dogwood, and the light must have been strong enough to pull the roosting beetles from the flowers overnight.

And I wouldn't be an honest taxonomist if I didn't point out that Callona rimosa is now a synonym - the current name is Crioprosopus rimosus after a revision of the genera by Eya, I believe (I can dig up the reference if anyone needs it)...

Cheers!
Bandrow

[leptraps]

Fortunately, I am not a Coleopterist.
However, I have collected some incredible insect specimens in my traps. I stick pins in lots of insects and then into a temporary storage boxes. I show up at various Lep. Soc. meeting with these boxes of insects. I seldom take any home.

[58chevy]

Bandrow, you're absolutely correct about the reclassification of Callona rimosa to the genus Crioprosopus. Reminds me of another spectacular cerambycid from AZ, formerly Crioprosopus magnificus. It is now Megapurpuricenus magnificus.

[bandrow]

58chevy,

Yep! That's a magnificent critter too! I was in AZ in 1988, the year they were supposed to be out in Texas Pass in the Dragoon Mountains. Didn't see anything - but the next day I found a huge female on the foliage of willow near the lake at Pena Blanca. Apparently it was the "off season" for it there - and it was just lounging on the wrong host - so it was a totally fortuitous capture.

Another nice one, although much smaller, is Pilostenaspis lateralis, from western Texas. Formerly Crioprosopus lateralis, it was nearly unknown since its description in the late 19th century, and was considered by some as potentially extinct. Then the incomparable Texan coleopterist, Dr. Ed Riley from Texas A&M, swept one up near Fort Stockton and set in motion the rediscovery of the species and the unlocking of its biology. Unfortunately, one of the largest populations was in an area that subsequently had huge brush fires a few years later, so I don't know their status these days.

Cheers!
Bandrow

[58chevy]

I'm not familiar with Pilostenaspis lateralis. Ed Riley has made many discoveries. Another of my favorite longhorns is Dryobius sexnotatus, a species that seems to be in decline. About a decade or so ago I accompanied Ed and a few other coleopterists to a location in east TX where we captured a few of them in traps. Quite a surprise! Here's a link:

bugguide.net/node/view/528194/bgpage