Our insect of the week for August 18, 2025, is Chrysobothris femorata. The common name is flatheadded appletree borer [COLEOPTERA: Buprestidae]. It also belongs to the family commonly called metallic wood boring beetles (just like the beetle featured last week). It is found in Central America and North America.

The larvae often burrow just under the bark of various species of hardwood trees. Adults emerge in summer and feed on leaves of their host trees. Eggs are laid in bark crevices. Larvae bore into the tree and feed on sapwood. Larvae build cells in which they pass the winter in the sapwood. They pupate in early spring. It was described by the French entomologist, Guillaume-Antoine Olivier in 1790.

The insect in this photograph was collected by Mark DuBois in Marshall County, Illinois using a Malaise trap. The image was generated by stacking multiple photos together to make this high resolution composite image.