Locust borers are colorful beetles plentiful on goldenrod flowers.
At a casual glance, their black with bright yellow stripes make them appear to be a wasp. These adults do not sting nor are they very harmful for locust trees. After feeding and mating, females deposit eggs in cracks and damaged areas of bark. The eggs hatch fairly quickly and larvae burrow into the sapwood where they make a small cavity. In the spring, they continue to burrow to the heartwood eventually pupating in the tunnel to emerge in late summer.