Pear slug larvae are easy to control with home-orchard insecticides, including insecticidal soaps. Larvae may also be washed off with a forceful jet of water. A light dusting of wood ashes on the leaves is another highly effective control. Shothole borers are considered to be secondary pests because they cannot generally attack vigorously growing trees. However, winter injury and damage by Cytospora canker often provide sites where shothole borers can attack.
Cultural practices are most important in shothole borer control.
Prune and remove damaged wood to kill larvae developing in the wood. Proper irrigation and fertilization can prevent trees from becoming stressed and susceptible to shothole borers. Occasionally, preventive insecticide sprays are useful to help manage outbreaks of shothole borer. Apply them in late spring to coincide with periods when the adults emerge from the twigs in which they developed during the winter. A second generation of beetles emerges in midsummer.