Pest Profile

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Common Name: Elder shoot borer

Scientific Name: zeae Harris

Order and Family: ,

Size and Appearance:

Length (mm) Appearance  round and somewhat flattened  surface roughened and pebblelike around periphery Egg 0.61  smooth and glossy in the center  eggs change from white to tan soon after deposition

 yellowish white  black head  thoracic and anal shield  pinacula (hardened areas that indicate points of muscle Larva/Nymph 23 – 33 attachment)  thoracic legs  spiracles

 robust reddish brown  hairy body 28 – 34 Adult  forewings rusty red and mottled with gray with brownish yellow (wingspan) spot near tips  head and thorax reddish, mixed with yellow  abdomen fiery red above and dark brown below

Pupa (if 17 - 21  initially tan but gradually changes to reddish brown applicable)

Type of feeder (Chewing, sucking, etc.): Siphoning mouthparts (adult), and chewing mouthparts (larvae).

Host plant/s: Various species of elder, particularly golden elder. Corn and dahlia are rarely know to be attack by the elder shoot borer.

Description of Damage (larvae and adults): Earliest signs of attack consist of holes 2 to 3 mm in diameter with sappy frass being ejected. Infested shoots often wilt, droop over, and sometimes die or break off. Heavily damaged ground sprouts may not succumb but often fail to produce new shoots the next year. By slicing infested stems longitudinally during summer, one can observe long larval galleries in the pith. Galleries are kept partially clear of frass. Although injury by this borer is most common in wild hosts, economically damaging injury has been reported only where elder has been grown commercially or where ornamentals have been destroyed or badly disfigured.

Reference:

Solomon, J. D. (1995). Guide to borers in North American broadleaf trees and shrubs. Agriculture Handbook (Washington), (AH-706).