The longhorn beetles (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) of Kentucky with notes on larval hosts, adult nectar use, and semiochemical attraction

Abstract

The longhorn beetle fauna of Kentucky has long been overlooked in the literature with revisions and historic publications reporting few records from the state. Here, we document the occurrence of 222 species of Cerambycidae in Kentucky, with 140 new state records. For each species, we summarize its distribution (overall and in the state), the counties, years, and months in which it has been collected, collecting methods, what collections house the specimens, larval host plants, adult flower visitation, chemical lure attraction, recent taxonomic changes, and other pertinent information about the species. Using this dataset, the bias-corrected Chao1 species richness estimator predicted that 241 species should be found in Kentucky, indicating that our sampling is nearly comprehensive. Additionally, we provide a list of 42 species that have been found in at least one neighboring state and the distance from the closest record of the species to Kentucky; among this candidate list are 11 species known from within 50 km of the state. This checklist remedies the historical oversight of Kentucky cerambycid diversity in the literature, and we hope it will serve as a resource for future collectors, particularly the information on chemical lure attraction, which has not been summarized to this extent for any other state to date.