That’s more interest than a lot of people have in them! Is it a Derobrachus hovorei? It really scared me to death. When larvae hatch, they bore into and feed on the roots of the host tree/plant. Felt sorry for the poor thing, so we put her on some potting soil inside a box with a lid and holes. If you’re worried about the tree, I’d recommend talking to your local extension office, the master gardeners if you have them. I posted pics to the response email since I can’t include pic here , thank for your help but I do believe you may want to check the pic !!!! The Palo Verde Root Borer (Derobrachus geminatus), more commonly known as the Palo Verde Beetle, may look terrifying, but it is harmless to humans. Look forward to seeing what you’ve got! Hi! Female bruchid beetles lay their eggs on palo verde seedpods. I have a picture of this scary beast. The beetle holes penetrate approximately 0.4-1.57 inch into the wood and there are often many inch into the wood and there are often many entry/exit holes on an infested tree. Are your kids in school now though? The longhorn beetle group is a big one and many of them look like the palo verde beetles. Of course! They don’t like being backed into corners or messed with, so it wouldn’t surprise me if one that made its way indoors was doing everything it could to look menacing. Though I don’t have any numbers to truly support this, people seem to see a lot fewer of the palo verde beetles in Phoenix than they do in Tucson, which may explain why you’ve never seen one! Nice bug , no doubt. I think they’re amazing beetles! I caught an adult today in my front yard, if he dies in one month, how do I preserve him? Sorry you’re getting them in your house though! Most notably, the entire life purpose of a Palo Verde beetle is to emerge from underground, find a mate, and immediately die. Sorry it scared your wife (my husband is right there with her, I assure you! Newcomers to the Phoenix area are sometimes horrified when they get their first glimpse of a huge bug that, for some, resembles a monstrous cockroach. — the palo verde beetle is harmless. When the eggs hatch, the larvae feed on the roots of the trees, focusing on the starches within the roots. These beetles have a taste for palo verde trees but can also be found in the root zones of other trees such as pines, mesquite, and ironwoods. And once they exit their ecosystem of tree roots, they often leave holes around the roots in their departure. We do have some young bamboo recently planted in pots. In June and July, the larvae turn to adult beetles and exit the ground via small holes. Do you think the sound we heard tonight was just another one? They are partial to Mexican Palo Verde, citrus and olive trees, as well as rose bushes. It’s an old house and has mulberry trees in the front yard. Excellent article! They likely made the holes you are using. And is it weird that I think you’re lucky to have 4 in your yard? Why study them? It’s well worth a good look. Thanks for the information. Watched the pair run around for awhile before i was able to catch him on a flat surface and take him back outside. Check out the long, luxurious antennae: Palo verde beetles belong to the beetle family Cerambycidae, the longhorn beetles. They’ve got all kinds of intimidating looking spines and beautiful eyes – gorgeous beetles if you give them a chance! I think they’re amazing creatures, so I’m glad that you think they’re cool! During that month, they fly around (not very well and in the dark – there’s nothing quite like seeing one of these flying toward your head at night! They range from brown to black in color. They don’t normally do a lot of damage to most trees that aren’t already stressed, but sometimes they do cause problems. I captured the beast in a shoe box and before leggings it go I did a quick search and found your article. (I know – they’re no longer allowed). They also lay eggs near other trees, but that’s why they have their name. Then got hubby out of bed, and 2-3 times he took it further away (tried grass, rocks, etc) and she ended up right back at our front door upside now and legs going like crazy! This is what happens when I stay up until 3AM writing blogs posts. Adults emerge in early summer, usually ahead of the monsoon, and by August they are gone. They are only alive for a short season and they are on a mission to mate. Palo verde borers obviously love all types of palo verde trees and may be partial to the Mexican palo verde. It’s now morning, and he replaced the pot with a glass square vase, so we can see what’s going on, and to actually be able to see the creature. It does no good to spray inside the holes after the Palo Verde beetles have already left. The better fighter a male is, the more females he has a chance to mate with. We have LOTS of holes surrounding our tree and never knew what it was. Not happy & rather grossed out. Palo verde beetles DO eat roots of trees, but consider this: there are millions of palo verde trees in the Sonoran Desert and nearly all of them have several palo verde beetle larvae gnawing on their roots. The palo verde beetles you collected are very common during the monsoon season and not a big concern. You can send it to thedragonflywoman at outlook dot com. My cat just carried one inside from the patio. Palo verde beetles get their name from the palo verde tree, a gorgeous desert tree with green bark native to the Sonoran Desert. If you search the internet, you’ll find all sorts of crazy ideas for how to rid your yard of these “dangerous” beetles so that they don’t kill your trees. Palo Verde bettles attack tree roots, causing considerable underground damage that can affect the entire tree. 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