African Fig-tree Longhorn vs Ross's Web Spinner

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute African Fig-tree Longhorn Ross's Web Spinner
Scientific Name Phryneta spinator Chelicerca rubra
Order Coleoptera Embioptera
Family Cerambycidae Chelicercidae
Size 30-50 mm 8.0-12.0 mm
Habitat Mountains Farmland
Diet Wood Feeders Wood Feeders
Regions East Africa (Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda) Africa
Conservation Least Concern Not Evaluated

African Fig-tree Longhorn

A large, spiny longhorn beetle with gray-brown mottled coloring and prominent lateral thoracic spines. It is a wood-boring species that attacks fig and other tropical trees.

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Did You Know?

The female uses her powerful mandibles to create deep oval egg-laying niches in the bark of living trees.

Ross's Web Spinner

A reddish-brown web spinner found in tropical Africa that builds silk tunnels on tree bark. It is one of the more brightly colored embiopterans.

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Did You Know?

The reddish coloration of this web spinner is unusual in the order, as most species are drab brown or black.