Metallic Wood-boring Beetle
Buprestis maculativentris
Identification:
Head: Metallic black-bronze. Head as wide as base of thorax (pronotum). Lower face yellow or yellow spotted, yellow continues under eye.
Antenna: Black. Segments steak-knife-like (serrated).
Thorax (Pronotum): Metallic Black-bronze. Base outside corner edges have yellow line at right angle. Darker, slightly raised line at thorax center and a few smaller raised spots on each side. Side of thorax on female is entire. On the male, the front (near head) is angled up and has a deeply indented line across to segment end; appearing as two different segments.
Wings (Elytra): Metallic black-bronze. 3 slightly ridged, long lines from base to tip all all wing edges. Tips squared. Base center (scutellum) is a small dot.
Legs: Metallic black-bronze, Black. Male thighs more coppery or bronzed.
Abdomen: Metallic black-bronze. Last 5 segments have orange-yellow spots at each side.
Similar Species: B. lyrata has more color on the face and smaller spots on abdomen side. It is also larger than B. maculativentris. B. nutalli sometimes has no light spots on elytra, but all abdomen segments have spots. Female B. nutalli has curved margin on thorax (pronotum) side.
Size: 13 to 20 mm. – Smallest
Habitat: Boreal conifer forests.
Food: Adult food unknown
Flight Time: Late May through to September
Life Cycle: Females lay eggs in crevices of pine and spruce branches.
Parasites: Braconid Wasp Atanycolus; Beewolf Wasp Cerceris fumipennis
Comments: Northern Ontario. Common.
For information on synonyms, references and type specimens see next page