The longhorn beetle (or lumberjack beetle) belongs to the family of beetles, in the order of which includes more than 25 thousand species of insects. Their development is associated with shrubs and trees of different species. Beetles accurately determine whether a particular tree is suitable for feeding their larvae.
Who is a barbel beetle?
The adult reaches 22 mm in length. Females are able to lay up to hundreds of eggs in the cracks of pine blanks: floors, rafters, doors. Out of the laid eggs, larvae are eaten, eating a tree. The larva turns into a chrysalis, but this transformation lasts a very long time, sometimes up to 10 years. It grows to 30 mm and eats dry wood with its jaws with such a crunch that you can even hear it.
Barbel beetle - a danger to the home
After exiting the chrysalis, the beetle gnaws the way out. Such a hole with trash is the only visible fact of the wrecking of this insect. If you try to stick a knife into the affected tree, then it will enter gently, as if into oil.
Also, the barbel beetle eats flower larvae, pistils, leaves, young bark. The larva of the barbel beetle, which develops in many types of trees, destroying them, does the most harm. The larvae are hardy. If the tree dries up and dies gradually, they can exist in such an environment up to 45 years, and then turn into dwarf beetles. Externally, the larva of the barbel has a yellowish or white flattened body with a well-developed chest and a retracted head. The larva ends with strong jaws of a dark color, stretched forward.
The barbel beetle is distinguished by a slender elongated body and unusual antennae, which in some species are even longer than the body itself. At the base of the antennae are kidney-shaped eyes.
The barbel beetle, common in the Amazon forests, grows in length up to 180 mm, Brazilian species - up to 140 mm. The longest barbel of Russia lives in the Ussuri taiga (its length is 100 mm). Of course, there are small varieties. All species make masonry in the cracks of wood, in the bark or gnaw out small caves.
House Barbel
There are varieties of barbel that have become unpleasant companions of people. For example, Hylotrupes bajulus is a small-sized representative of the winged-wing order with a small antennae and a rounded anterior back. They can have a color from black to brown and dirty gray tones, with elytra in slanting bandages.
Natural habitat for this species is not an option. They prefer to live next to a man in his wooden dwelling. They settle on the floor, in the upholstery, in partitions, in wooden shelves, in the legs of tables and beds, in the roof, etc. Female barbel can lay more than 400 eggs deep in crevices or cracks in wooden objects. A couple of weeks pass, and gluttonous larvae hatch from the eggs, eating the outer layers initially. This is evidenced by the appearance of wood dust. Furniture or construction will simply collapse in the near future.
Control measures
In the fight against this pest, chemicals are used: CE, ME, kinmix. They are diluted in a 10 liter bucket of water. Take 2 ml of decis, 90 g of malathion, 2 ml of TBE. The resulting solution should be sprayed twice with the habitat of pests. A good effect is obtained from a single spray with a solution of CE and 2 ml of karate, diluted in 10 liters of water.