Larger trees tolerate light to moderate infestations without apparent serious effects. They have a two-year life cycle. The adults are approximately 1 inch long and are dark grey with small orange spots on the wing covers. They emerge in summer and lay eggs in slits cut in bark, usually near the middle portion of trees. The larvae take three years to mature.
Damage appears as swollen areas on trunks and larger branches.
Holes, where larval excrement is pushed out and where adults have emerged, are also signs of an infestation. This flatheaded borer occurs in most species of birch. Adult beetles emerge from infested trees in late May and are present until July. They feed on birch leaves for several days before laying eggs under bark and in cracks in the bark. The larvae burrow directly through the bark into the cambium layer.