Flower Longicorn Beetle - Aridaeus thoracicus

FAMILY CERAMBYCIDAE

This page contains information and pictures about Flower Longicorn Beetles that we found in the Brisbane area, Queensland, Australia.


Body length 20mm

This beetle is also known as Tiger Longicorn Beetle. Its forewings are bright orange-brown in colour with black pattern. Those pattern mimic the abdomen and 'waist' of a wasp. Besides they look like a wasp, they move like a wasp too.



Even we saw this beetle a few times, we still think we saw a wasp when we saw this beetle. For the above picture, we thought it was a wasp moving on leaf searching for caterpillars.



The first time we found the Flower Longicorn Beetle was near Wishart Outlook among the Citrus tree leaf. After this we found them on flowering plants a few times.



Their larvae feed on Royal Poinciana Trees (Delonix regia), pear trees and other trees.



Notice its notched eyes and its antenna arising within the notch. This is the characteristic of all longicorn beetles.



This beetle is common in Brisbane gardens.



The femur of each leg is swollen in the middle.



The mating pair was found in Karawatha Forest on Dec 2005.

Reference:
1. Wildlife of Tropical North Queensland - Queensland Museum Publications 2000, p103.
2. Aridaeus thoracicus (Donovan) - Australian Insect Common Names, AICN version 1.53, CSIRO 2005.