Most beetle finds have been at Christmas tree farms and pine tree nurseries. The beetle prefers Scots pine but will feed on most, if not all, pine species. Although the beetle is slow moving, it could spread to other areas through the movement of Christmas trees, nursery stock, and pine logs. They emerge in March and April to mate and lay eggs in dead or dying trees and recently cut stumps. Adults can fly several miles in search of a suitable host.
Females lay eggs in gallery systems they bore between the inner bark and outer sapwood of the tree.
From April to June, larvae feed under the bark in separate feeding galleries. From July through October, adults tunnel out and fly to new pine shoots to feed, boring into the center of the shoot.