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Neandra brunnea
Classification
Diagnostic Features of Larvae
- Mature larva. Length up to 29 mm; breadth (at prothorax) 4.45 mm. Form cylindrical, rather slender, gradually tapering posteriorly to ninth abdominal segment. Head slightly depressed, quadrate to slightly transverse (maximum head-width 3.6 mm), sides feebly rounded. Genae with a shallow constriction behind middle and bearing a few fine setae. Front margin of frons roundly declivous, almost straight. Antenna long, fleshy, scarcely retractile, the second segment longest and bearing third and a supplementary one. Mandible robust, wedge-shaped, pitchy, shining; apex strongly and acutely pointed and directed downward; molar area flattened into a striate trapezoidal plate. Clypeus trapezoidal, leathery, as wide at base as epistoma. Labrum elongate, cordate, feebly sclerotized and fringed with a few fine setae. Maxillary lobe rather slender, cylindrical, sparsely setose. Prothorax with posterior area of pronotum, lateral posterior angles of presternum and median area of eusternum asperate. Eusternum distinctly separated from presternum. Abdomen with dorsal ampullae present on segments one to seven; each ampulla abruptly and strongly protuberant and sparsely asperate. Pleural tubercles distinct, and epipleura slightly protuberant on last three segments. Anal lobes compact, rugose, glabrous. Legs slender, rather long; unguiculus stout and imbricately spinose for apical third. Spiracles of mesothorax broadly oval but not protruding into prothorax; abdominal spiracles with peritreme broadly oval, thick but feebly sclerotized; marginal chambers forming a crescent. Adapted from Duffy (1953).
Biology and Economic Importance
- Biology. The eggs are deposited individually in small pits about 2 mm deep excavated by the adult; these pits are subsequently closed up with fine particles of wood. Rotting portions of the wood and old emergence holes are favorite oviposition sites. The incubation period is two to three weeks.
The larval habitat is in living, decaying, or dead sapwood and heartwood. Although mature trees, especially those growing in sunny, exposed places, are most prone to attack, there have been records of damage to nursery stock. The larvae excavate numerous tortuous galleries which often completely honeycomb the wood. Their depredations are usually confined to the basal part of the tree, and generally tend to extend upward rather than downward. Each gallery is packed throughout its length with fine powdery frass. Pupation usually takes place in the heartwood at the base of a tree. The pupal cell is packed for a short distance beyond the entrance with coarse, string-like shavings. Pupation occurs during June and July, and adults emerge from July to October. Adapted from Duffy (1953).
Selected References to Larvae Specimens
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