Bug FAQAnt-like Longhorn Beetle
Cyrtophorus verrucosus · Order: Coleoptera · Family: Cerambycidae
The ant-like longhorn beetle mimics ants in appearance and movement, showing red or black coloration that resembles different Camponotus species. Adults are active from early spring through midsummer and the larvae develop inside hardwood trees such as maple, birch, and elm.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
It looks like an ant and even walks like one, which helps it avoid predators. Its body can be red or black, matching the colors of two common ant species.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Adults measure between about 7 mm and 11 mm long.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
It lives in deciduous forests. It is the most common beetle in urban forest fragments in northern Delaware.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Adults are on the wing from March through July. Larvae feed inside hardwood trees, most often maple, birch, redbud, pine, and elm.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
Adults appear from early spring to midsummer, while the larvae develop inside hardwood trees.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
The beetles are active between March and July.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
It is native to North America, especially southern Canada and the eastern United States.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 36 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, New York, Michigan, Ohio, Virginia, Massachusetts, Maryland.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: native in North America; native in Canada. Source: iNaturalist
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
When are ant-like longhorn beetles active?
Adults are usually seen from March through July.
Source: Wikipedia
What trees do the larvae live in?
The larvae develop inside hardwood trees such as maple, birch, redbud, pine, and elm.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Cerambycidae)
House LonghornHylotrupes bajulusCan damage your home
Asian Longhorned BeetleAnoplophora glabripennisDamages trees, gardens or crops
Red Milkweed BeetleTetraopes tetrophthalmus
White-spotted SawyerMonochamus scutellatusCan damage your home
Red Pine Longhorn BeetleStictoleptura rubra
Spotted Longhorn BeetleRutpela maculataSources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrtophorus_verrucosus
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-24 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-24.