Longhorn beetle
family of wood-boring beetles with long antennae
The longhorn beetles (Cerambycidae), also known as long-horned or longicorns (whose larvae are often referred to as roundheaded borers), are a large family of beetles, with over 35,000 species described.
Most species are characterized by antennae as long as or longer than the beetle's body. A few species have short antennae (e.g., Neandra brunnea), making them difficult to distinguish from related families such as Chrysomelidae. "Cerambycidae" comes from a Greek mythological figure; after an argument with nymphs, the shepherd Cerambus is transformed into a large beetle with horns.
Longhorn beetles are found on all continents except Antarctica.
Description
Other than the typical long antennal length, the most consistently distinctive feature of adults of this family is that the antennal sockets are located on low tubercles on the face; other beetles with long antennae lack these tubercles, and cerambycids with short antennae still possess them. They otherwise vary greatly in size, shape, sculpture, and coloration. A number of species mimic ants, bees, and wasps, though most species are cryptically colored. The titan beetle (Titanus giganteus) from northeastern South America is often considered the largest insect (though not the heaviest, and not the longest including legs), with a maximum known body length of just over 16.7 cm (6.6 in).
Larvae are 0.5–22 cm (0.20–8.66 in) long, elongated in shape and lightly sclerotised.
The public source identifies “Longhorn beetle” as family of wood-boring beetles with long antennae. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Longhorn, beetle and family.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 3, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q205295. The Library of Congress control number is sh85021992. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
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This entry incorporates text from “Longhorn beetle” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.