With this species, the beetles bore galleries straight into the wood from 1 to 3 cm or more. The tunnels then branch one to six times in the same plane following an annual ring. In small trunks and branches, the galleries go straight in or spiral upward from the point of attack around the stem or limb, branching upward or downward from the spiral gallery. The Asian ambrosia beetle seems to attack trees and shrubs more aggressively than native ambrosia beetles that attack mostly dead, dying or heavily stressed plants. Because most of the boring is done in the sapwood or heartwood rather than the cambium, it is sometimes possible to save plants infested with Asian ambrosia beetles.
Most plant death occurs from the point of green-up until leafing out.
It is recommended that dead wood be pruned out and dying plants be destroyed. Chemical sprays of lindane, Dursban or Thiodan during female flight season, may be directed at the bark and trunks of trees 1-2 inches in diameter. This protectant spray does not kill beetles already in the tree and has only been mildly successful, at best. We do not have complete biological information on this pest, and it is difficult to predict how long the threat from the beetles lasts.