Description of the Pest
The branch and twig borer is a slender brown beetle about 0.5 to 0.66 inch long. The body is cylindrical and the head and prothorax are narrower than the body proper. The beetle lays its eggs in the dead wood of a number of native and cultivated trees and shrubs outside the orchard. The larvae bore into the heartwood of the host and feed within this area for a year or possibly longer. Pupation occurs within the wood and adults emerge in early summer. They often fly to orchards where they bore into small branches on the trees. There is one generation per year.
Damage
View photos of borer damage
Adults bore into small twigs and branches, making round holes, commonly at the axil of a bud or fruit spur or at the fork of two branches. One of the branches frequently dies. Branch and twig borer seldom causes economic injury and is found only rarely in apricots.
Management
These beetles do not prefer healthy, vigorous growing trees. Provide sunburn protection by pruning appropriately. A good irrigation and fertilization program will keep trees in good health. Promptly destroy brush piles, which harbor these pests. Remove badly diseased or borer-infested trees and branches from the orchard each winter and destroy them before spring. Spraying for this insect is not recommended.