the species occurring in Georgia have been discussed (394). The majority of species 
breed in the dead wood of trees and shrubs but many, including some of the most 
destructive ones, attack either slightly weakened or healthy trees and other plants. 
Some species are vectors of the pine wood nematode, Bursaphelenchus xyloplilus 
(Steiner & Buhrer) Nickle. 
The larvae of all but a few members of the family live as borers in the tissues of 
trees and other woody plants. Almost no part of a tree of any age or size is immune 
to infestation by some species. The twigs, branches, and stems of sprouts and 
seedlings and the twigs of branches of mature trees are girdled and severed. The 
sapwood and the heartwood of large limbs and trunks of living trees are often 
riddled and weakened, leading to windbreakage or death. Species that feed under 
the bark of living trees may weaken and kill their hosts, or cause defects and stains 
which seriously degrade lumber value. Species that attack recently felled trees, 
logs, or seasoned timber also cause heavy losses. Not all species are harmful, 
however; many of those that attack slash, stumps, and dead and dying trees are 
actually beneficial because they aid in the quick removal of such waste material 
from the forest floor and aid in its incorporation into humus. 
Cerambycid beetles are distinguished by their oblong, often cylindrical bodies, 
their long, usually 11-segmented antennae, and their long legs. The tarsi are five- 
segmented, with the fourth segment small and partly concealed by the bilobed third 
segment. The beetles move rapidly when disturbed and are strong fliers. Some 
species make squeaking noises when captured. . 
Cerambycid larvae (fig. 124) are distinguished by a few prominent characters. 
They are always fleshy, thin-skinned, white or yellowish, and more or less cylin- 
drical or depressed. In some species, the body tapers somewhat posteriorly, but the 
anterior segments are never suddenly and conspicuously larger than the following 
ones. The body is never curved and there are no prolegs or gripping processes on 
the last abdominal segment. There are two overlapping, circular bands of skin 
between each pair of body segments, the ventral mouth parts are always about on a 
line with the base of the mandibles, and the tenth abdominal segment is modified 
into two or three small retractile lobes. These borers are the subject of numerous 
publications (204, 257, 259, 742, 743, 744, 745, 746, 747, 748). 
F-531252 
Figure 124.—Typical larva of a roundheaded wood borer. 
The locust borer, Megacyllene robiniae (Forster), one of the most important of 
the cerambycids, occurs in eastern Canada and throughout most of the United 
States wherever its host, black locust, grows. The adult ranges from 11.5 to 28 mm 
long. The jet-black background is marked with bright-yellow bands extending 
286 
