Feeding damage occurred earlier this year than it normally does. The locust leafminer, Odontota dorsalis, is one of the leaf-mining beetles, and is an annual problem on black locust. Adults have black heads and the inner edges of the wing covers are black, so it looks like there is a black stripe down the center of its back. The rest of the body is deep orange. Adults spend the winter in bark crevices or under leaf litter and emerge in the spring when leaves begin to expand.
Adults skeletonize the lower leaf surface for a time before laying eggs.
The immature larvae bore into the leaves and feed between the upper and lower leaf surfaces in cavities known as mines. By the end of summer, locust leafminer damage is easy to see, because trees look like they are dying or dead. This year, the first generation caused severe feeding damage to locusts in numerous counties by the second and third weeks of June. Numerous individuals have called because they see brown foliage as they drive along State roads and are concerned that the entire forest is 'blighted'. Locust trees tend to grow in border-type areas, such as along roadways and edges of fields, making them easy to see.