Red Oak Borer vs South American Giant Diving Beetle

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Red Oak Borer South American Giant Diving Beetle
Scientific Name Enaphalodes rufulus Megadytes ducalis
Order Coleoptera Coleoptera
Family Cerambycidae Dytiscidae
Size 18-30 mm 35-45 mm
Habitat Woodlands Rivers & Streams
Diet Wood Feeders Omnivores
Regions Eastern North America Brazil, Amazon Basin
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Red Oak Borer

A large reddish-brown cerambycid that breeds in living red oaks across eastern North America. It has a strict two-year life cycle with synchronized adult emergence in odd-numbered years in some regions. Larvae bore into heartwood.

💡

Did You Know?

Outbreaks of this beetle in the Ozarks during the early 2000s killed thousands of red oak trees across the region.

South American Giant Diving Beetle

One of the largest diving beetles in South America with a glossy dark olive body. It inhabits large rivers and lakes of the Amazon basin.

💡

Did You Know?

It is among the largest dytiscid beetles in the Western Hemisphere.