Raspberry Cane Borer – Oberea bimaculata

Raspberry Cane Borer (Oberea bimaculata) Latin Name: Oberea bimaculata Common Name: Raspberry Cane Borer Appearance: Egg: The eggs are elongated and creamy golden, and they are deposited between two girdled rings eaten into the cane. Larva/Nymph: The larva/nymph measures 19 mm in length. Live within stems and are white in color, elongate, cylindrical in form, and legless. Adult: Adults measure 12.7 mm in length. This long-horned beetle has a thin black body with a yellow, orange thorax with two or three black spots on top; antennae can be as long as or longer than the body; Host plants: The main host plants are species of raspberries and blackberries. Territory: Throughout in United States Damage caused by Raspberry Cane Borer: Raspberry cane borers create a particular type of harm. Female borers’ two rings of holes are typically apparent to the naked eye. Plant tissue between the rings dies over time, causing the shoots above this point to wilt. Look for the two rings of holes right below the wilted areas if you notice the growing tips of canes die back. They’re about an inch apart, and the cane frequently breaks at this point. Life history and Habits: Raspberry cane borers lay their eggs inside the stem between two rings of holes chewed by adult females. The larvae begin eating on cane pith after hatching and make their way down into the core of the cane. The larvae are about three-quarters of an inch long, with white heads and no legs. They spend the winter inside the cane, near the bottom ring of holes. They begin feeding in the spring and travel downward until they reach the plant crown, where they spend the winter. The larvae pupate in the spring of the following year. Adults emerge in the summer and begin feeding on the surfaces of new canes before laying eggs.