Celebrating Insect Diversity Week: Beetles!

Pine Sawyer

   I don't have many pictures of beetles simply because, for some reason, I just don't see them too often. Believe it or not, Jeff took this picture with his iphone. Not too bad eh? This very large beetle (between 2-3 inches) is a Pine Sawyer. There are several different species, they all look slightly different, and they can be found all over the United States. It's believed they're called sawyers because you can often hear the noise made by the larvae chewing wood inside the tree. Not to fear, they do not damage healthy trees, they prefer dead, stressed, diseased, or freshly cut trees or wood.