Flatheaded appletree borer
Chrysobothris femorata (Olivier) (Coleoptera: Buprestidae)
Orientation to pest
Flatheaded appletree borer, Chrysobothris femorata (Olivier), is a common, well known native borer affecting many species of hardwood trees in North America. Adults emerge in summer and feed on foliage of their host trees. Eggs are deposited under bark scales or in crevices on the main trunk or larger branches. The larvae bore into the bark and feed in the phloem and outer sapwood. In older trees, tunnels are most often in the thick inner bark. Mature larvae build pupation cells in the outer wood in late summer, where they pass the winter and pupate the following spring. There is one generation per year. This borer is especially damaging to newly planted trees and trees stressed by drought or other factors. Young trees may be girdled and killed. Larger trees may show injuries through loss of large patches of bark on trunks.
Hosts commonly attacked
This species attacks a wide range of trees species, including sycamore (Platanus occidentalis L.), silver maple (Acer saccharinum L.), boxelder (Acer negundo L.), black walnut (Juglans nigra L.), willow (Salix), white oak (Quercus alba L.), black oak (Quercus velutina Lamb.), yellow-poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera L.), elm (Ulmus), American beech (Fagus grandifolia Ehrh.), hickory (Carya), hackberry (Celtus), apple (Malus domestica Borkh.), and pear (Pyrus).
Distribution
This species is found throughout most of Canada and the United States.
Images of flatheaded appletree borer
Figure 1. Adult of the flatheaded apple tree borer, Chrysobothris femorata | Figure 2. Mature larva of flatheaded apple borer | Figure 3. Sap spot over feeding site of flatheaded apple borer larva in Nuttall oak (Quercus texana Buckl.) | Figure 4. Damage to red maple (Acer rubrum L.) from flatheaded apple borer |
Important biological control agents related to this pest species
Natural enemies known to attack the flatheaded apple borer include the ichneumonids Labena grallator Say and Crytohelcostizus chrysobothridis Cushman, the chalcid Phasgonophora sulcata Westwood, and the braconid Atanycolus rugosiventris Ashmead. Predators include the clerids Chariessa pilosa (Foster) and Chariessa pilosa onusta Say, the asilid Andrenosoma fulvicauda Say, and various woodpeckers.
Web links for information on flatheaded appletree borer
- Management Guide | AgriLife Extension, Texas A&M System
- IPM Greenhouse Fact Sheet | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- Identification Guide | University of Tennessee Extension
Descriptions are provided for apple flathead borer and other buprestids in Tennessee - BugwoodWiki Article | wiki.bugwood.org
Articles
- Potter, D. A., G. M. Timmons, and F. C. Gordon. 1988. Flatheaded apple treeborer (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) in nursery-grown red maples: phenology of emergence, treatment timing, and response to stressed trees. Journal of Environmental Horticulture 6(1): 18-22.