Borer Beetle Closeup

These beetles are beautiful--thankfully we have a very balanced ecosystem in these mountains (so far) and these guys don't really pose a ecological threat to any tree species as a whole. However, this boxelder maple was growing too large and was overcame by a combination of these beetles eating the wood layer under the bark, heavy winds and storms, parasitic grape vines and a generally unstable hillside. Now with the tree fallen-over and dead (and a portion of it that was obscuring yard and garden areas chopped up into kindling) these last few stumps and trunks are home to a little swarm of these beetles and other small animals. I saw some millipedes already crawling about--attracted to the alga and fungi growing on the bark--and very large ants carting off dead bugs and overripe grapes that had been dislodged. The tree is now a little micro-biome that I love inspecting for little creatures. :3c

And since this guy was huge for his species and chilling out in plain view with decent light, I decided to take his portrait. ^^ Very impressive mandibles and antennae both on these beetles.