Oak Sprout Oberea – Oberea gracilis

Oak Sprout Oberea (Oberea gracilis) Latin Name: Oberea gracilis Common Name: Oak Sprout Oberea Appearance: Adults; Adults are 11 to 15mm long, easily recognized by contracting by orange and black stripes. Antenna and elytra are dark brown to black with gray pubescence, legs bicolored with reddish-orange and black. The adults are little reddish-brown to black beetles with a cylindrical shape and a gleaming surface. The pronotum is the first part of a sentence. Female antennae are slightly shorter than male antennae. Larva: Larva are Whitish, legless grubs and have 1-2.5 mm long body Host plants: oak, white oak, southern red oak, black oak Territory: throughout the United States, especially north and South America Damage caused by Oak Sprout Oberea: The bark of an oak tree. The beetle penetrates under the bark of coast live oak trees, mainly drought-stressed or recently injured oaks, constructing small tunnels beneath the bark across the grain of the wood and laying their eggs in the tunnels. They spend the winter under the bark. Damage is indicated by bleeding, foamy, boiling holes with drilling dust. They typically target trees that are stressed.