White spotted sawyer beetle
The white spotted sawyer beetle is a long horned wood boring beetle with a taste for stressed and dying pine trees that are fire-scorched, have been struck by lightning, are worn down from injury by other insects, and/or are drought-stressed. Their white grubs eat through the sapwood and heartwood creating extensive burrows.
White spotted sawyers inhabit the pine belts of North America and are known to live in Washington, Oregon, British Columbia, Idaho, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada and other states.
A similarly spotted black and white beetle with a glossy shell may be an Asian or citrus longhorned beetle, exotic pests having very different life habits from our native spotted sawyer-- they attack healthy trees and do cause serious damage. If you see a glossy one, please report it to your extension agency as quickly as possible.
White spotted sawyer beetle or Monochamus maculosus
