Peach bark beetle

Insect

Peach bark beetle

Phloeotribus liminaris (Harris)

Coleoptera: Scolytidae

Distribution: Most fruit-growing states and provinces in eastern North America.

Photos

Adults bore into trees just beneath the outer layer of bark, causing a flow of gum from wounds.

Adults bore into trees just beneath the outer layer of bark, causing a flow of gum from wounds. Penn. Dept. of Conservation & Nat. Res.
B

Adult's body is brown with many punctures, from which arise yellowish hairs (A). The larva is a small, legless grub.

  • Crops Affected: cherries, peaches, plums

    Damage

    Attacks peach and cherry mainly, also plum. Adults bore into healthy or unhealthy trees just beneath the outer layer of bark in the trunk or branches, causing gum to flow from the wounds (B). They leave small burrow holes filled with frass. The tunneling weakens the tree and can kill it.

    Management

    Eliminate breeding places (dead trees, brush heaps, wood piles or prunings) adjacent to orchard. Maintain a balanced nutrition program to restore weakened trees; remove those that will not recover.

    Similar Species

    This insect is very similar in form and habits to the shothole borer (Scolytus rugulosus), but its burrow hole is filled with particles of frass held together by fine silk threads, and its brood chamber runs across the grain instead of parallel to it.

More Information on Similar Species

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