The males are much smaller, long and narrow, with three longitudinal ridges or carinae. Dormant treatments with horticultural oil control these scales. A spray of insecticidal soap, which is among the compounds registered for control of this pest in Connecticut, early in June also will destroy the young. Consult the labels for dosage rates and safety precautions. Sinuate peartree borer , Agrilus sinuatus.
Borers weaken trees, causing scars and some limb breakage.
Young trees are sometimes completely girdled and killed. Larvae that are partly grown overwinter in their tunnels in the wood for two consecutive years. Second-year larvae form pupae in April, and the adult beetles emerge about one month later in late May or June. The females lay eggs in the crevices and under the edges of the bark. In early July, the young grubs or larvae hatch from eggs and excavate narrow sinuous tunnels in the sapwood just beneath the bark.