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Monochamus galloprovincialis

Black pine sawyer beetle

Description

It is a longhorn beetle. Adults are brown black, 15 up to 25 mm long. The eggs are deposited in slits excavated by the females in the bark of suitable hosts and the newly-hatched larvae develop in individual galleries in the phloem before entering into the xylem, where they built a linear gallery ending in a pupal chamber from where the adults emerge through a perfectly round-shaped hole (5-7 mm in diameter). They are also capable of living on thin twigs, where they feed on the core creating a few centimeters long gallery before pupating. Infestation can be severe. Infested logs are easy to identified by the white debris on the top. The adults maturation feeding can damage the twigs. It was recently found to be the vector of the pathogenic pine wood nematode Bursaphelenchus xylophilus.

Symptom

The scavengers under the bark are firmly clogged with small concentrically arranged chips.

Tree Species: Pine

Part of a plant- attacked: Tree trunk, Branch

Pest significance: Harmful

Pest Category: Insects

Invasive Species: No

Present in EU: Yes

Seasonal frequency of occurrence

Seasonal frequency of occurrence