D3072: Michigan's Cerambycidae: Unraveling diversity, richness and species assemblages in the Mitten State

Native Cerambycidae often play important roles in decomposition and nutrient cycling by colonizing stressed, dying or newly dead trees. While some species can be abundant, often little is known about distribution or diversity of less common species. We deployed two cross-vane panel traps baited with a broadly attractant sex-aggregation pheromone at 15 sites for three to seven years between 2017 and 2023. Each site included a “canopy” trap suspended 3-5 m high from branch and a “ground” trap supported on rebar, 1.5 m aboveground. Sites ranged from small urban parks with relatively few trees to large forests surrounding campgrounds. At each site, we assessed overstory tree species and coarse woody debris (>10 cm diam) in fixed radius plots and linear transects, respectively, centered on the traps. Land use classes within a km of traps were identified to quantify potentially available cerambycid habitat. Between 2017 and 2023, a total of 10,215 cerambycids representing 86 unique species were captured. The most captured species was Neoclytus m. mucronatus representing 2,837 individuals. Singletons and doubletons represented 19% and 6% of the total species captured, respectively. Traps deployed in sites with low forest cover (0-24%) captured the most beetles, while sites with high forest cover (>50%) captured the most Cerambycidae species. Two species, Lepturges confluens and Neoclytus caprea, were significant indicators of sites with low forest cover.