Mating behavior of Pine Sawyer, Monochamus saltuarius Gebler (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae)

Mating behavior of the pine sawyer, Monochamus saltuarius Gebier (Cerambycidae: Lamiinae) was observed on pine trees in an outdoor net cage kept in one healthy pine tree and a cluster of pinelogs (cut over one month) to attract the beetles. When sawyer adult pairs released into net cage, they all moved to the pinelogs. And then the male was staying motionless with his antenna outstretched while the female was actively moving in his vicinity. The mating behavioral reactions were followed by the next steps: The first phase of courtship was initiated by the female approach toward the male. Second, male dashed, contacted antenna and mounted female's back. Third, female carried the male on her back and walked around and then male began to lick. Fourth, male inserted his penis into the female's genitalia when female stopped walking. While a long pairbond, the mating pair repeated copulations, lastly, when mating is over, male and female stayed separately. The mating began on sunset and resting of both male and female began at the temperature below about 20 °C. Substantially straightforward mate searching by female indicates the presence of a male sex pheromone.