The bronze poplar borer belongs to the flathead or metallic boring beetle family.
The eggs are cream in color, oval, and 1/20 by 1/33 inch in size (1.2 by 0.8 mm).
The larva is considerably longer than the adult, slender and flat, measuring approximately 1 1/2 by 1/10 inch (30-40 by 2-3.5 mm), with a somewhat broader prothorax than the remainder of the body. A pair of black anal spines may be found on the back segment.
The mature beetle is 1/4-1/2 inch (7-13 mm) long, slender, and somewhat flattened, with a subtle metallic green sheen and a lustrous, bronzed underside.
Host plants:
Quaking aspen, bigtooth aspen, balsam poplar, black cottonwood, and eastern cottonwood are among the five kinds of poplars that have been identified as hosts.
Territory:
It is found in North America
Damage caused by Bronze Poplar Borer:
Larval galleries can be as broad as 1/50- 1/8 inch (0.6-3.0 mm) and as long as 39 inches (1 m), yet they are never straight. Galleries in significantly damaged trees frequently meander unexpectedly. A zig-zag or sinuate gallery is the inactive rule host. Galleries flow back and forth across the grain in the most active hosts, with succeeding loops getting closer together. The emerging holes in the outer bark of adults are D-shaped. Multiple assaults may result in girdling and direct fatality, or they may contribute to death.
Life history and Habits:
Borers on severely compromised trees in southern areas can complete a generation in as little as a year. Adults appear between June and August. They graze on aspen leaf for approximately a week before depositing eggs in groups of five to eight in bark fissures. In around two weeks, the eggs will hatch. Young larvae penetrate the cambium of the bark. The larvae primarily feed along the cambium. However, they occasionally venture into the phloem and cortex. Larvae usually burrow into the wood to molt, then return to the cambium. Four such exits are usually visible in a finished gallery, implying five instars. In the spring, pupation occurs in the outer sapwood or thick bark.
