1
$\begingroup$

At about 11 pm, I heard a loud impact on the nearby glass door to a second-floor balcony. I thought it might be an acorn but it'd be a very unlikely angle - it'd have to be thrown from below or be a very strange ricochet.

So I looked and encountered this rather impressive creature recovering on the balcony: enter image description here Those planks are six inches wide.

I've never seen one of these before. What is it? Are those giant serrated appendages on the front mandibles or antennae?

I expect it's not as hazardous as it looks, but is there any risk of it biting people or pets?

Do they routinely launch themselves two stories into the air, or would it have crawled up and then just bounded from the balcony floor?

Location: Southern Oregon, USA.

Improve this question
$\endgroup$

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
1
$\begingroup$

Searching the Internet again this morning, I think I may have identified it as a California (Giant) Root-Borer Beetle (https://www.insectidentification.org/insect-description.asp?identification=California-Root-Borer-Beetle). Yes?

They fly, and are active at night.

The disturbing serrated appendages are antennae (whew!).

It looks like I have nothing to fear from it unless I or others panic at its appearance, but it or its progeny may be bad news for nearby deciduous trees.

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
1
  • $\begingroup$ Species ID answers should ideally be accompanied by an image confirming the species. $\endgroup$
    – AliceD ♦
    Sep 1, 2020 at 8:16
1
$\begingroup$

Prionus californicus would have been my guess due to the serrate antenna, Trichocnemis spiculatus are another large beetle without such saw-like antenna.

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
1
  • $\begingroup$ Species ID answers should ideally be accompanied by an image confirming the species, and some background information to show the species' distribution matches that where the critter was found according to OP, and some links to allow other users to background-read on your sources. $\endgroup$
    – AliceD ♦
    Sep 1, 2020 at 8:15

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .