Timberman beetle

The timberman beetle (Acanthocinus aedilis) is a species of woodboring beetle belonging to the longhorn beetle family.^[1]

Timberman beetle
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Coleoptera
Suborder:	Polyphaga
Infraorder:	Cucujiformia
Family:	Cerambycidae
Genus:	Acanthocinus
Species:	A. aedilis
Binomial name
Acanthocinus aedilis (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms
Acanthocinus validus Matsushita, 1936 Cerambyx aedilis Linnaeus, 1767

It is found in woodlands, with a large distribution through Europe, Russia and Central Asia. It is also known as the Siberian Timberman due to its range extending northwards in to Siberia.^[2] In Finnish this species is known as Sarvijaakko, in Dutch as Timmerboktor and in Swedish as Större Timmerman.^[3] Despite a few sources suggesting reports in Central America, no confirmed reports were available at time of editing (May, 2020). The species is also not listed as invasive in North America.^[4]

The body length ranges from 12-20mm, with antennae up for 3 times the body length in males, or 1.5 times the body length in females.^[2] Their lifespan is up to 3 years which includes the 1–2 years spent in the larval stage.^[5]

This species is capable of surviving freezing temperatures below -37 °C in both the adult and larval stages.^[6] The adults are active from March to June, during which they are diurnal.^[2] The adults overwinter in pupal chambers in leaf litter or under the bark.^[7]

In Continental Europe, this species has become a serious pest of commercially-grown timber as the larvae feed under the bark, weakening the trees.^[2] Through infesting weakened trees, excavating galleries under the bark, the trees then die.^[7] Their development within wood debris in natural forests is beneficial for nutrient cycling in forest ecosystems, but can also facilitate the transfer of pathogenic fungi within woodlands.^[8] Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) and Norway Spruce (Picea abies) are key food sources for this beetle species.^[1]

A distribution map within the UK can be found courtesy of the National Biodiversity Network.^[9][10] The species is reported to be Nationally Scarce category B within Great Britain by the Wildlife Trust BCN in 2018.