Integrated Pest Management
Greater Peachtree Borer
Synanthedon exitiosa
Female peachtree borer (Clemson University, Bugwood.org)
Peachtree borer larvae (Eugene E. Nelson, Bugwood.org)
Peachtree borer damage to base of a tree (H. C. Ellis, University of Georgia, Bugwood.org)
Pest Description
- female adults: 1 inch; metallic blue with an orange stripe around abdomen
- male adults: 7/8 inch; black with yellowish-white stripes
- immatures: up to 1 1/4 inches; pinkish-white caterpillar with a brown head capsule; no legs
- pupal skin often extrudes from exit hole near tree crown
Host Plants, Diet & Damage
- cherry; nectarine; plum; peach; apricot
- larvae feed on cambium in large roots and lower trunk
- loose, dead bark; gummy, frass-filled masses at tree base
- partial girdling can cause wilting and yellowing leaves
- girdle trees causing tree death
- young trees particularly vulnerable to complete girdling
Biology, Life Cycle & Damaging Life Stage
- overwinter as larvae under the bark
- adults are active from mid-June through late-August
- lay eggs in mid-summer in soil at the base of host trees
- larvae hatch and attack the lower trunk/root crown
- one generation per year
- larvae are the damaging life stage
IPM Recommendations
- Monitor using delta traps and greater peachtree borer pheromone lure starting in mid-June.
- Hang monitors as close to the ground as possible.
- Mating disruption may be used in orchards > than 1 acre.
- Avoid winter trunk injury by painting the lower 12 inches of trunk with a 50:50 latex paint:water solution.
- When moth flight begins (early-July in northern Utah), apply an insecticide (anthranilic diamide (non-fruit and nut bearing trees); carbamate; organophosphate; pyrethroid)) to the lower 12 inches of the trunk and soil.
For more information, see our Greater Peachtree Borer fact sheet.