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The purpose of this study was to characterize the endogenous cellulase gene <i>MaCel1</i> of <i>Monochamus alternatus</i>, which is an important vector of <i>Bursaphelenchus xylophilus</i>, a pine wood nematode, which causes pine wilt disease (PWD). In this study, <i>MaCel1</i> was cloned by rapid amplification of cDNA end (RACE), and its expression analyzed by RT-qPCR (real-time quantitative PCR detecting). A total of 1778 bp of cDNA was obtained. The encoding region of this gene was 1509 bp in length, encoding a protein containing 502 amino acids with a molecular weight of 58.66 kDa, and the isoelectric point of 5.46. Sequence similarity analysis showed that the amino acids sequence of <i>MaCel1</i> had high similarity with the β-Glucosinolate of <i>Anoplophora</i><i>glabripennis</i> and slightly lower similarity with other insect cellulase genes (GH1). The β-D-Glucosidase activity of <i>MaCel1</i> was 256.02 ± 43.14 U/L with no β-Glucosinolate activity. <i>MaCel1</i> gene was widely expressed in the intestine of <i>M. alternatus.</i> The expression level of <i>MaCel1</i> gene in male (3.46) and female (3.51) adults was significantly higher than that in other developmental stages, and the lowest was in pupal stage (0.15). The results will help reveal the digestive mechanism of <i>M. alternatus</i> and lay the foundation for controlling PWD by controlling <i>M. alternatus</i>.