Insect and Disease Fact Sheet Compliments of
New Century 
1-877-79TREES
Woodboring, Roundheaded
and Flatheaded Borer Adults
Identification
Adult roundheaded borers vary in length from 8 to 76 mm. They are
elongate and usually cylindrical (some flattened) with long antennae, which
give them the name 'longhorned beetles.' Beetles
attacking softwoods can be drab and unattractive, whereas beetles on hardwoods
are brightly colored and conspicuously marked. Larvae are whitish to
cream-colored, thin-skinned, segmented and 9 to 50 mm long with the head partly
withdrawn.
Adult
flatheaded borers are 6 to 34 mm long, boat-shaped
and flattened. Many are beautifully marked or metallic colored and are often
referred to as 'metallic wood borers.' Wing covers are ridged or roughened.
Larvae have flattened plates on the upper and lower surface of the first
segment behind the head. They are whitish to yellow, with no legs and one to
two inches long. Abdominal segments are smaller than thorax segments.
Bronze Birch Borer and Locust Borer
Redheaded ash borer, Neoclytus acuminatus (Fabricius)
An
elongate, slender, cylindrical beetle, 6 to 8 mm long, reddish-brown with
yellow crossbands on the wing covers. The thorax
bears four to six small transverse ridges on the median longitudinal ridge.
Larvae feed in the unseasoned wood of hardwood trees, honeycombing the sapwood
and packing mines tightly with granular frass. Primary host trees include ash,
oak, hickory, persimmon and hackberry.
Locust borer, Megacyllene robiniae (Forster)
A medium-sized, robust beetle from 14 to 18 mm long,
black and marked with yellow crossbands. One band on the wing cover is
W-shaped. The thorax is wider than it is long. Larvae feed beneath the bark and
in the wood of black locust, and exude frass. In the autumn, adults are found
feeding on the pollen of goldenrod. Larvae are a serious pest of black locust.
Painted hickory borer, Megacyllene caryae (Gahan)
Adults
resemble locust borers. Eggs are laid in spring on bark scales of logs cut in
winter. Larvae feed in freshly cut wood of hickory, osage-orange,
hackberry, grape and ash; large amounts of granular frass are exuded. Hickory
firewood held over the summer can be seriously riddled with adult emergence.
Ivorymarked beetle, Eburia quadrigeminata (Say)
Adults
are elongate, sub-cylindrical, pale-yellow and 14 to 24 mm long. Each wing
cover has two small, longitudinal, ivory spots close together at the base;
there is a second similar pair just behind the middle. The thorax has two
blackish tubercles on top and a short, sharp spine on each side. Larvae are
true heartwood borers, preferring dry, solid wood where it excavates large,
contorted mines tightly packed with frass. Oak, hickory, ash, chestnut, maple
and cypress can become infested. Beetles sometimes emerge from flooring and
furniture several years after they have been placed in a building.
Elm borer, Saperda tridentata Olivier
Adults
are 9 to 14 mm long and densely clothed with grayish pubescence. The thorax and
wings bear narrow orange stripes on the sides. The wings have three oblique
crossbars. Adults lay eggs in bark of weakened or dying elm trees. Larvae bore
beneath the bark, filling the mines with fibrous frass and completely
destroying the inner bark and cambium. Park and shade trees are severely
injured, especially old, mature, unhealthy trees. Limbs are attacked first.
Tanbark borer, Phymatodes testaceus (L.)
Adults
are elongate, depressed beetles 8 to 13 mm long. The thorax is rounded and
yellowish with the wing covers either blue or yellowish. Larvae feed beneath
the bark of dead oaks and sometimes in stored hemlock bark. Larvae can mine
entirely in the bark of stored and piled wood, causing economic loss. Use bark within
three years.
Rustic borer, Xylotrechus colonus (Fabricius)
Adults
are dark-brown beetles up to 8 to 17 mm long with irregular variable whitish or
yellowish markings.
Southern pine sawyer, Monochamus titillator(Fabricius)
Adults
are large elongate, cylindrical beetles 15 to 30 mm long, black to
brownish-black and often mottled with whitish or grayish pubescence. The thorax
is cylindrical with a spine at each side, and the antennae and legs are very
long. Larvae bore beneath the bark of recently killed and felled pine, spruce
and balsam fir trees by filling the mines with fibrous frass.
Blackhorned pine borer, Callidium antennaium hesperum Casey
Adults
are flattened, blackish-blue beetles 9 to 14 mm long with the thorax rounded
and indented on each side of the middle. Larvae feed beneath the bark and in
the sapwood of dry coniferous wood, making extensive mines and exuding large
amounts of granular frass. Feeding occurs primarily in pines, spruces,
hemlocks, junipers and cedars. Lumber sawed and stored is often injured.
Bronze birch borer, Agrilus anxius Gory
Adults
are small beetles 6 to l0 mm long, flattened and green-bronze in color. Larvae
attack dying or weakened birches, beech and aspens. White and paper birches
grown as shade and ornamental trees are injured most seriously. Larval mines
are always packed tightly with fine, sawdust-like pellets or frass arranged in
arc-like layers. Beetle emergence holes are D-shaped.
Information obtained through the Ohio State Extension Factsheet HYG-2127-94
Insect and Disease Fact Sheet Compliments of
New Century
1-877-79TREES