Post Swim - _TNY_3557
Back in late June (of 2025), I heard my wife call from the garden and I could tell from the tone of her voice that it was something that would interst me.
She turned out to be standing next to the water barrel where she had discovered something trying to swim.
This little something turned out to be this rust pine borer (Arhopalus rusticus). "Little" is actaully a bit of a misnomer - this is a species which is about 25 mm / 1" in length. I put down my finger next to it and it climbed on immediately.
There is actually a small chance that this could be the very similar burnt pine longhorn beetle (Arhopalus ferus), but that one is much much rarer thouh it has still been found in my region. The way to tell the difference is to look at the rearmost feet, but I had no idea to look there and none of the shots I took show those feet. It is probably A. rusticus though.
Three shots of it after I put it down on a purple angelica (Angleica gigas here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/54693152813/
here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/54772964507/
Post Swim - _TNY_3557
Back in late June (of 2025), I heard my wife call from the garden and I could tell from the tone of her voice that it was something that would interst me.
She turned out to be standing next to the water barrel where she had discovered something trying to swim.
This little something turned out to be this rust pine borer (Arhopalus rusticus). "Little" is actaully a bit of a misnomer - this is a species which is about 25 mm / 1" in length. I put down my finger next to it and it climbed on immediately.
There is actually a small chance that this could be the very similar burnt pine longhorn beetle (Arhopalus ferus), but that one is much much rarer thouh it has still been found in my region. The way to tell the difference is to look at the rearmost feet, but I had no idea to look there and none of the shots I took show those feet. It is probably A. rusticus though.
Three shots of it after I put it down on a purple angelica (Angleica gigas here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/54693152813/
here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/54772964507/