Carolina Pine Sawyer

Carolina Pine Sawyer

Monochamus carolinensis

Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare
at Washington

In 3 days ~10%

5 Verified sightings at Washington
7 In 1 park From 2019 to 2026
August Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Carolina Pine Sawyer

Monochamus carolinensis, the Carolina pine sawyer, is a species of beetle in the family Cerambycidae. It was described by Guillaume-Antoine Olivier in 1792. It is known from Canada and the United States. The species resembles Monochamus titillator, distinguished by the having the apical margin of the elytra at a shallower angle to the elytral midline, and by the shape of the adjacent tiny tip of the elytra, which is typically more rounded in M. carolinensis than M. titillator. The male antennae are shorter relative to the body in M. carolinensis than in M. titillator, being about twice the body length in males of the former species. The larval stages may be difficult to distinguish.

Zhao et al. reported trapping M. carolinensis in Beijing, China in 2022. Monochamus carolinensis adults are active from May through at least September in the southeastern United States, with 1 to 1.5 generations per year reported in North Carolina's Piedmont. Females oviposit on dead, either standing or felled, pine trees, laying one to three eggs per niche excavated between outer bark and phloem. Examples of host species include Pinus banksiana, Pinus sylvestris and Pinus echinata. Adult beetles fly to feed on twigs of live pine trees; this is important due to the beetle's potential role as a vector of pine wilt disease. Nematodes in their late larval stage enter into the tracheal pores of the teneral adult beetle and crawl off the posterior end of the beetle into chewed wood during feeding or, more commonly, during oviposition. Wikipedia →

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Great Smoky Mountains National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%

More parks will be added in future updates.

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Washington 🇺🇸 United States
<5%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Carolina Pine Sawyer in Washington?

Rare

Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Carolina Pine Sawyer sighting in Washington on a given day, based on 5 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 1649th most-seen of the 1807 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Carolina Pine Sawyer in Washington?

Any time of year

In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Carolina Pine Sawyer in Washington on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.

What time of day is best to see a Carolina Pine Sawyer?

Between 11 am and 2 pm

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Carolina Pine Sawyer sightings with a recorded time, and about 7 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Where else can you see a Carolina Pine Sawyer?

Only Washington, in our data

Washington is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Carolina Pine Sawyer sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.

Which relatives of the Carolina Pine Sawyer live in Washington?

Same family: Cerambycidae

The closest relatives of the Carolina Pine Sawyer that you can see in Washington (family Cerambycidae, Longhorn Beetles) are Red Milkweed Beetle (about 10%) and Locust Borer (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.

Where does the Carolina Pine Sawyer sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Carolina Pine Sawyer is recorded against all the insects logged in Washington (5 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.

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