Found this flying around porch lights and loudly bouncing off window screens last night (7/19/20).
It was actually creating an audible sound while I was holding it. When I set it against the screen and let go, it dropped to the ground and commenced running around on the deck.
What is it?
Looks like a ground beetle though I didn't think they could fly. I have several adults and their larvae living under a log in my garden. Flap will definitely know species.
It's a long-horned wood-boring beetle (family Cerambycidae) in the subfamily
Prioninae; likely a male Prionus laticollis, known as the broad-necked root borer. The females of this species are much larger, and appear unable to fly. Many beetles in this family can produce an audible sound when disturbed, through a process caled stridulation.
I really appreciate your contributions, Flapdoodle - and I especially like learning new words and their meaning.
Stridulation will now forever be in my lexicon.
