Rhagium inquisitor (Linnaeus, 1758)

Chapman, Eric G., Richards, Austin B. & Dupuis, Julian R., 2023, The longhorn beetles (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) of Kentucky with notes on larval hosts, adult nectar use, and semiochemical attraction, Zootaxa 5229 (1), pp. 1-89 : 64

Rhagium inquisitor (Linnaeus, 1758) ; Rhagiini “ribbed pine borer”

Distribution: A Holarctic species, transcontinental in Eurasia and North America ranging in the latter from NS to northern FL to southern CA to northern BC, with records as far south as Oaxaca, MX. Most Kentucky specimens are from the eastern half of the state (Map 158).

Kentucky counties: Bell (7), Bullitt (1), Fayette (1), Jefferson (1), Johnson (1), Madison (9), Menifee (1), Rowan (2), Whitley/Knox (1)

Years: 1895 (1), 1947 (1), 1951 (1), 1971 (1), 1976 (7), 1981 (2), 1997 (1), 2014 (4), 2016 (1), 2017 (1), 2020 (1), 2021 (1), nr (2)

Months: February (1), March (1), April (11), May (2), October (7), nr (2)

Collections (15 records, 24 specimens): AMBC (2), CMNH (1), EGCCRC (4), PDBC (2), UKIC (12), iNat (2)

Collection methods: On recently cut pine stumps (4); sugar trap (2); panel trap baited with α-pinene (2)

Larval host plants: Referring to the North American fauna, Craighead (1923) reported that “the larvae of Rhagium have been collected between the bark and wood of all our coniferous trees excepting the species of Cupresseae” ( Cupressaceae ). Reported hosts include Abies spp. , Larix occidentalis , Picea spp. , Pinus spp. Pseudotsuga menziesii and Tsuga ( Chemsak 2005)

Chemical lures: A blend of α- and β-pinene + 3-carene + limonene + α-terpinolene + ethanol ( Sweeney et al. 2006), ethanol + α- and β-pinene ( Hanks & Millar 2013), a blend of ipsenol, ipsdienol, ethanol, and a-pinene ( Miller et al. 2015) and turpentine ( Gardiner 1957)

Comments: Diurnal—can be found on coniferous trunks and log piles. Larvae pupate in characteristic oval pupal cells (e.g., https://bugguide.net/node/view/1772103) in late summer/early fall under the bark of fallen conifers where they eclose and remain in the cells until spring, overwintering as adults.