When grape shoots are 30 to 50 cm long, usually in late May before grape bloom, the female begins to lay her eggs and girdle new canes. Egg-laying continues for about one month. The egg is elliptical, 0.7 mm long, and off-white. It takes about 10 days for the egg to hatch. The fully-grown larva is white with a brown head, legless, and measures 8 mm in length.
Larval development takes over a month.
The shoot in which the larva feeds either breaks off at the girdled point or dies back to the first node below the egg cavity and drops to the ground. The pupa forms within the dead shoot on the vine or on the ground. Development to the adult is completed afterabout two weeks. The pupa is light- colored but becomes darker just prior to emergence. Vines 'pruned' by the grape cane girdler have a ragged appearance suggesting serious injury to the plant.