Neoclytus scutellaris | 9 July 2011, Wayne Co., Missouri
During the short, cold days of winter it’s nice to take a break from the curatorial activities that dominate the season and look back on some of the insects seen during the previous summer. This is Neoclytus scutellaris, a longhorned beetle associated almost exlusively with dead/dying oaks in the eastern U.S. The species is sometimes confused with the very similar N. mucronatus but is distinguished by the transverse yellow band on the pronotum and its host (the latter being associated with hickory and hackberry).
Copyright © Ted C. MacRae 2011
Beetles In The Bush 
As usual, I love these details about insect identification. And yes, I am (and will certainly always be) a beginner in entomology, but this kind of blog maintains and improves my activity and learning.
Hi Daniel – glad you like them, and it’s comments such as yours that maintain my enthusiasm for making these posts.
Daniel said it all!!
Nice to have a name for a beetle that I’m actually rather familiar with, since I, like it, am a balanophile.