Banded alder borer
The banded alder borer is a long, slim beetle in black and white. It has white bands across its dark back and very long feelers striped like a zebra. If you pick it up, it squeaks.
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Fun facts
When it is held or scared, it makes a noise like a squeaky running shoe or air hissing out of a bike tyre.
Nobody knows why, but it loves freshly painted buildings. Sometimes lots of them sit on the new paint.
The male's feelers are longer than its body, while the female's are shorter.
It lays its eggs in fallen trees, not living ones, so it does not hurt forests much.
Most asked questions about Banded alder borer
?Is the banded alder borer dangerous?
No. It is harmless, it just squeaks or hisses when handled.
?Why do banded alder borers land on painted houses?
Nobody knows for sure. Something about fresh paint attracts them.
?How big is the banded alder borer?
Its body can be up to about 4 centimetres long, not counting its long feelers.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Rosalia funebris
- Group
- Beetles
- Family
- Cerambycidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Coleoptera > Cerambycidae
- Lives on
- North America
Where the facts come from
- Rosalia funebris (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Jorasm. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
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