I just found this critter with the very long antennae sharing my bathroom. My initial response was to channel Arnie in Predator - WTF are you? Since it seemed in no hurry to go anywhere I found my camera, took some shots, then gently deposited it outside. Was that a good deed or a mistake? Is this a harmless, useful critter or a nasty I should crush on sight next time? Still fairly new to Florida, and there are sooooo many bugs to learn - help please!!!
This is a long-horned wood boring beetle (family Cerambycidae), it looks like a male in the genus Monochamus ('sawyers') - see http://www.fsca-dpi.org/Coleoptera/Mike/FloridaCerambycids/Monochamous_carolinensis_maleMontage.jpg for an example. Some species in this genus can be timber pests (they will not infest homes, however), including being vectors of the pinewood nematode, see http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/pp/notes/Ornamental/odin006/odin006.htm.
Yikes! Thank you! I live in a 2 1/2 acre mini-homestead with lots of trees, mostly long leaf pine, live oak and turkey or scrub oak. If I see this beastie again I will not be kind! Thanks again - computer hiccup kept m away till now.
