Bug Wiki
Sticker of Fig tree borer
Bug card No. 1665 of 4,939

Fig tree borer

Neoptychodes trilineatus
Name means: “three lines, after the three pale stripes on its body”
Eats: PlantsBeetlesForests and woods6 legs

The fig tree borer is a longhorn beetle with long feelers. It is greyish or dark brown with orange-brown spots, and three white or yellow stripes run down its body.

Lives in
From the southern United States and Cuba down to Venezuela and Suriname
Length
1.9 to 3.5 cm (0.75 to 1.4 in)
males are often a bit bigger than females
Top speed
about 0.47 km/h (0.29 mph)
On foot, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless to people. It is best to just watch it and not grab it.
What does it eat?
It lives on fig trees, mulberries, willows and alders. These trees are its food plants.
For real!Photo of Fig tree borer
Picture by Hectonichus. CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

Fig tree borer about 3.5 cm long (1.4 in)A toy building brick about 3.2 cm (1.3 in)A crayon about 9 cm (3.5 in)A banana about 18 cm (7.1 in)
as long as 6 grains of rice in a rowcould run across a dinner table in 7.7 seconds

How big is Fig tree borer compared to YOU?

Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

It can be up to 3.5 centimetres long, and the males are usually a bit bigger than the females.

2

Its colours change a lot from place to place across its big home range.

3

Besides fig trees, it also lives on mulberry, willow and alder trees.

4

It belongs to a group called flat-faced longhorn beetles.

you asked

Most asked questions about Fig tree borer

?Is the fig tree borer dangerous?

No, it is harmless to people. Just watch it and let it be.

?What does the fig tree borer eat?

It lives on trees such as figs, mulberries, willows and alders.

?How big is the fig tree borer?

About 2 to 3.5 centimetres long. Males are often a bit bigger than females.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Neoptychodes trilineatus
Group
Beetles
Family
Cerambycidae
Classification
Insecta > Coleoptera > Cerambycidae
Lives on
North America, South America

Where the facts come from

  1. Neoptychodes trilineatus (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by Hectonichus. CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this 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.

Bug Wiki honey jar For grown-ups: Bug Wiki is free, with no ads and no tracking. A small tip helps keep it online.Leave a tip

More from the same group: Beetles

Also at home here: Forests and woods

Honey jarfor grown-ups