Blue Horntail vs Two-Horned Oxysternon

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Blue Horntail Two-Horned Oxysternon
Scientific Name Sirex juvencus Oxysternon durum
Order Hymenoptera Coleoptera
Family Siricidae Scarabaeidae
Size 12–30 mm 20-28 mm
Habitat Forests Forests
Diet Wood Feeders Dung Feeders
Regions Europe, North America, Asia South America
Conservation Not Evaluated Least Concern

Blue Horntail

A metallic blue-black horntail wasp found across the Northern Hemisphere. It breeds in recently dead or dying spruce and fir trees.

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Did You Know?

Adults sometimes emerge from milled lumber years later, boring clean round exit holes through flooring or walls.

Two-Horned Oxysternon

A large, dark metallic green tunneling dung beetle with two prominent pronotal projections in males. The clypeus has a distinctive upturned anterior margin. It is a powerful tunneler in Amazonian rainforests.

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Did You Know?

This beetle is so efficient at burying dung that it plays a measurable role in reducing livestock parasite transmission.