Dogwood Borer - Dogwood Borers

Virginia Cooperative Extension
101 Hutcheson Hall (0402)
Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, VA 24061

Phone: (540) 231-5299
Fax: (540) 231-4370

2808-1010

Eric Day, Insect Identification Lab Manager, Department of Entomology, Virginia Tech

Lepidoptera: Sesiidae, Synanthedon scitula

PLANTS ATTACKED

Dogwood, pecan, elm, hickory, and willow

DESCRIPTION OF DAMAGE

Larvae feed in the inner bark of live, healthy dogwood trees. The damaged area of the trunk or branch swells and eventually the bark will fall off. Leaves turning red prematurely in mid-summer on a lone branch are an early sign of dogwood borers. Infested branches and limbs will die. Dogwood borers often will not kill the tree in the first year, but reinfestation in successive years will.

IDENTIFICATION

Dogwood borer larvae are white with pale brown heads and they bore in the cambium of dogwood, gaining entrance under rough bark or through wounds. Late-summer adults are clear wing moths and somewhat resemble wasps. The body is blue with yellow stripes and yellow-banded legs.