Bug card No. 3247 of 4,939

Palo verde root borer

Derobrachus hovorei

Eats: Plants BeetlesDeserts and dry places6 legs

The palo verde root borer is a huge black or brown beetle with very long feelers and spikes on its back. It is one of the biggest beetles in North America, almost as long as a grown-up's hand. It can fly, but sometimes it flies a bit clumsily.

Lives in

Southwestern United States and northern Mexico, in deserts, parks and yards

Length

8.9 cm (3.5 in)

Top speed

about 0.75 km/h (0.47 mph)

On foot, estimate

Can it hurt you?

Can bite

It is not harmful, but it can bite if you grab it. Look at it without picking it up.

What does it eat?

Its big grubs live underground and chew on tree roots, especially of the palo verde tree.

Photo of Palo verde root borer — Picture by Mike Ostrowski. CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

as long as 3 toy building bricks in a rowcould run across a dinner table in 4.8 seconds

How big is Palo verde root borer compared to YOU?

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

How fast is it?

A garden snail about 0.05 km/h (0.03 mph)

A tortoise about 0.3 km/h (0.19 mph)

Palo verde root borer about 0.75 km/h (0.47 mph)

A person walking about 5 km/h (3.1 mph)

cool stuff

Fun facts

It can grow up to about 9 centimetres long.

Its grubs can live under the ground for up to three years.

Gardeners sometimes dig up the huge cream coloured grubs in flower beds.

For more than 100 years scientists mixed it up with another beetle. It only got its own name in 2007.

The grown-up beetles come out in summer to find a partner.

you asked

Most asked questions about Palo verde root borer

?Do palo verde beetles bite?

They can bite to defend themselves if you grab them, but they are not dangerous.

?How big is a palo verde beetle?

Up to about 9 centimetres long, which makes it one of the biggest beetles in North America.

For bug experts

Scientific name: Derobrachus hovorei
Named by: Santos-Silva, 2007
Group: Beetles
Family: Cerambycidae
Classification: Insecta > Coleoptera > Cerambycidae
Lives on: North America
Also known as: Palo verde beetle, Palo verde borer beetle

Where the facts come from

Derobrachus hovorei (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 Mike Ostrowski. CC BY-SA 4.0, 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.

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