Agrilus anxius

Coleoptera: Buprestidae

Identification
• Larva is white, legless, elongate, soft-bodied, and up to 1" long.
• Adult is a bronzish black, ¹/₂" long, bullet-shaped beetle. (a)

Damage
• The larvae tunnel just under the bark of the trunk and branches of many white-barked birches causing dieback of branches and death of the tree. (b)
• Tunnels under the bark may be visible as raised areas of the bark surface. (c)
• Adults emerge from ¹/₈" wide D-shaped holes. (d)

Management
• Plant less susceptible birch varieties such as “Heritage” and “Whitespire” or avoid white-barked birches.
• Keep birches healthy by watering, mulching, and avoiding soil compaction and salt injury.
• Plant birches in damper areas away from roads and footpaths where there is plenty of room for root growth.
• Apply chemical insecticides to the trunk starting when vanhoutte spirea finishes bloom.
• Realize that birches are short-lived trees and are likely to survive in a landscape less than 30 years.