What do tree borers look like

Measure the square footage of the treatment area to help you determine how much Sylo Insecticide you need to mix. In a sprayer, dilute 0. Once you have calculated and mixed the appropriate amount of Sylo Insecticide in a sprayer, shake the sprayer well and you're ready to treat. Apply over the tree trunks, trigs, and branches on a fan spray setting but not to the point of runoff. If you see any holes or cavities in the wood, spray them directly via pin stream setting. You want to saturate the openings and contact as many insects as possible.

Once the tree has been treated, we recommend a soil treatment with Dominion 2L. Dominion 2L is a systemic insecticide meaning that it when applied to the soil, it will be taken up into the tree roots and help to control any tree borer pest that tries to burrow or feast on the tree. Measure the diameter of your tree before treating. Dilute Dominion 2L at a rate of 0. So for example, if your trunk's diameter is 15 inches you will need to mix 1.

Mix it in a sprayer and apply uniformly as a drench around the base of the tree directing the application to the root area. After treatment has completed, tree borers should no longer be infesting your tree but you will need to make sure they do not reinfest. Here are some practices we suggest:. If the damage of the tree is quite extensive the only way to take care of the infestation is to remove the whole tree from its roots and replace it with new one. Replanting a new one and protecting it with preventive treatments of Sylo Insecticide and Dominion 2L may be the only way to control the damage.

Place mulch, supplemental water and fertilizers around the tree at times it helps in preventing the tree borers from causing harm to the tree. This will help in controlling the damage being caused by borers.

Use proper organic compost and fertilizers that are nitrogen-free. Clean up all the debris. It is best to cut off the branches and nearby mulches, grass, and cut all the unwanted decayed leaves and branches as short and trim as possible. It will make it unappealing and more difficult for the tree borers to infest a trimmed tree.

While pruning cut off the infected branches, the crossed branches and cut the branches laterally 6 inches deep till you reach the disinfected portion of the branch. Dip cloth in alcohol and rub it all over the cuts and trunk it prevents re-infestation from occurring. Plant other flowers during winter to avoid attracting the borers and keep the borers away.

Apply or fill the cuts and from the pruning with prune paste. A batch of old paint tree antiseptics, petroleum and diatomaceous earth-based products all can be used as prune paste. Sealing the saps and cuts heals the wounds of trees more quickly and prevents the tree borers from entering inside the trunk to damage the trunk.

Store Finder. Cart 0 Item s You have no items in your shopping cart. Pest Control Pest Control. Pest Control Resources. Clearwing moths can sense the chemicals released by stressed or damaged trees and seek them out as egg-laying sites. To assess possible damage, keep an eye out for the following signs: Tunnel holes : One of the telltale signs of a tree borer infestation is the holes created from borer tunneling. Depending on the species of borer, these tunnels may have round, semicircular, or oval shapes.

Borer holes tend to appear in a random pattern on the bark, contrasting with the neat rows created by a woodpecker. Frass : You can tell borer holes apart from woodpecker holes by looking for frass, the excrement that borers create as they feed on wood.

Frass looks like sawdust, and you can find it inside the holes or just outside of them. Dead limbs or cracked bark : Wood borers tunnel in the cambium, the inner layer of tree bark that transports water and nutrients. As pests erode the cambium, the areas of the tree above the damage receive fewer nutrients. This lack of nutrition can cause the bark to crack or the connected tree limbs to die and fall off.

Oozing sap gummosis : A stone fruit tree will have gummosis, sap oozing from its wounds, during a borer infestation. If borers dig into sap-producing parts of the wood, the sap flows out of the tunnel. You may also see frass in the oozing sap. Tree Borer Treatment and Management If your tree has a wood borer infestation, you can use one of two methods to kill the tree borers: Chemical : Depending on the type of borer infesting your tree, you can use contact insecticide and soil treatment to kill active borers and prevent future infestations.

Every state has its own standards on pesticide use, so make sure you can legally use a pesticide before applying it to your trees. Mechanical : Outside of using pesticides, your possible management strategies involve removing the larvae from the tree with a tool or getting rid of infested wood. If you have a severe infestation, you may need to clear the entire tree to eliminate the risk of falling branches.

Consider these methods of preventing tree borers from attacking: Proper tree care : Since borers target weakened or stressed trees, you can lower the risk of infestation with correct watering and fertilization techniques. Remember to pay careful attention to newly transplanted trees with a higher risk of stress.

Choosing the right tree species : When planting new trees, select species that wood borers in your area don't often attack. Research the less susceptible trees in your region and focus on them instead of more vulnerable varieties. Preventing and caring for tree injury : External damage from equipment like mowers can leave a tree open to borer infestation. There are about species native to Australia, but only about half of them have been formally described. There are more than 5, species of moths in the family Oecophoridae.

The most common wood borer in this family encountered in gardens is the native Fruit-tree borer Maroga melanostigma, which is found in all states of Australia. Compared to other borer pests, the damage caused by this moth is minor. Larvae of common Longicorn Beetle species are 30 mm to 50 mm long. Jewel Beetle larvae are legless creamy grubs, with a wide flattened thorax and a long body giving them an almost cobra-like appearance.

Wood Moth larvae are usually very large from 50 mm to mm long, and yellow, grey or pink in colour depending on the species. Larvae are mostly hairless with armoured thoracic segments and brown heads.

Fruit-tree Borer larvae are pale pinkish brown caterpillars with brown heads and they grow to about 50 mm long. Adult Jewel Beetles are mostly brightly coloured metallic beetles from 2 mm to 60 mm long. Adult Wood Moths are usually large grey or brownish moths. Some Wood Moths are truly enormous with wing spans of mm. The adult Fruit-tree Borer moth is satiny-white and has a 30 mm to 50 mm wingspan. The upper surface of the abdomen is black with an orange-coloured fringe of hairs.

There is a small black spot located near the centre of each white forewing. Female Longicorn Beetles lay their eggs under the bark of host plants. Almost all Longicorn Beetle larvae feed on wood, feeding internally and creating tunnels in phloem, sapwood or heartwood depending on the species.

Larvae pupate within the tree. Adult Longicorn Beetles emerge from distinctive oval holes. The life cycle is completed in one to two years depending on the species.

Female Jewel Beetles usually lay their eggs in sick or stressed trees. Larvae hatch and tunnel in the cambium region, growing through several moults and chewing a maze of tunnels packed with sawdust and frass droppings. Jewel Beetle larvae pupate in sapwood and later emerge as adult beetles. The life cycle may take anywhere from several months to several years depending on the species. Female Wood Moths usually lay their eggs in crevices in the bark of various native plants. Larvae may live in vertical tunnels for a couple of years, before chewing an exit hole in the trunk or roots depending on the moth species.

Larvae pupate in their exit tunnels until moths emerge and fly off to begin a new generation. Emerging moths leave pupal cases clearly visible protruding from tree trunks or out of the ground depending on the species.

The life cycle takes several years to complete. Female Fruit-tree Borer moths lay their eggs on the bark of the host tree, often at branch junctions or in the forks of trees. Larvae burrow into the wood, sheltering in tunnels during the day and emerging at night to feed on the bark. Tunnel entrances are covered with frass, webbing and chewed bark. Larvae pupate in their tunnels and adult moths usually emerge in summer.

Image above: Longicorn Beetle larva feeding and tunnelling in woody plant material Image courtesy of Denis Crawford. Longicorn Beetles Trees including coniferous trees native and exotic , citrus, eucalypt, fig, pittosporum and wattle. Jewel Beetles Various native trees including eucalypts and wattles, and native shrubs including Parrot-peas Dillwynia spp.