The name of this type of pest It comes from the shape of the perforations that they make in the wood of the trees, which is quite similar to a bowl.
These are insects that eat wood from trees, the galleries that they make under their bark, are the cause of serious damage, which can even cause the death of the plant, if they have the opportunity to ring the trunks or branches of the tree in its entirety .
What plants does the borer affect?
Depending on the species of borer it is, these affect certain plants.
Xyleborus dispar
They cause damage to maple, chestnut, poplar, holm oak, ash, alder, pink or even certain pine species.
Leperisinus fraxini
These insects cause damage to olive, ash, hornbeam, maple, lilac, birch, robinia and many more.
Scolytus amygdali
These affect the elm and the almond tree.
scolytus scolytus
These very frequently affect the elm that is weakened by the galerucella. The Elm Scolithids, what has the greatest danger is that they have the ability to transmit the disease Graphiosis.
Phloeosinus bicolor
These affect the cypress and yours.
Pine Barrenillos
Ispp, Tomicus spp, Hylurgus spp, Pissodes notatus. They prefer younger pine trees that are weakened. The larva has the ability to girdle the bottom and the attacks are very frequent in the trees that are transplanted with plaster due to the problem of the whole procedure.
There are borers that are specific to Scots pine, such as IIps acuminatus, which have the ability to cause major damage in forest areas where silvicultural treatments are abandoned.
Damage caused by borers
Taking into account the state of the infection, the damages that are caused by borers they can be somewhat mild or there may be significant deterioration in production.
The galleries that are caused by the borer in the bark of trees, cause the flow of sage to be cut off, causing the branches of the plant to dry out.
The most common damages that can occur are the fall of the fruits, just like sprouts dry out. Each of these damages is generally scattered and it is not common for losses of great magnitude to occur.
If the borer causes the branches of the most important plant to dry out, the cause is usually can be confused in the case of olive trees, but nevertheless, if we pay close attention, we can find small perforations.
Treatment for borer
In the trees that are weakened, it is best that we put a little compost. It is important that we eliminate the rest of the pruning wood surrounding areas so that insects are not attracted. We must also cut those specimens that are too affected.
If the attack that occurs is quite weak and they feed on the treetops, we can apply treatment with Fenitrotion, Alphacypermethrin or also Deltamethrin in the part of the stems as well as in the cups, this we have to repeat when we see that the plant requires it. Apart from this, we can water the trees to increase the flow of sap.
Like these insects are hidden under the bark, using a chemical product would not be of much help.
The best system we can use is place pruning wood stools that are about 4 cm thick as is the bait. We leave this with the winter pruning, we remove it for the spring long before the adults come out of the firewood and then we burn it.