Mesquite-pest

Guides

• Oncideres rhodosticta

  Mesquite Girdler

  Oncideres rhodosticta is a twig-girdling longhorn beetle (Cerambycidae: Lamiinae) native to the southwestern United States and Mexico. Adults emerge in late summer (August–September) and feed on mesquite foliage. Females engage in distinctive girdling behavior, chewing complete rings through the bark and cambium of living mesquite twigs to create oviposition sites in the dying distal portions. Larvae develop within the dead twigs, completing a one-year life cycle. The species is economically significant as a pest of mesquite in rangeland and agricultural settings.

  CerambycidaeLamiinaeOnciderinitwig-girdlermesquite-pestxylophagousbiological-controlrangeland-entomologyProsopissouthwestern-USMexicounivoltinegirdling-behaviorhost-recognition