Damage by A. acutipennis results in a defect known as “grease spot.”’ This is 
caused by a fungus that spreads through the wood from the tunnels. In cross 
section, grease spots are oval to diamond- or spindle-shaped and about 19 mm 
wide. Their presence in lumber greatly reduces its value. Infestations have been 
found frequently in river bottoms where the trees were subject to backwater 
flooding during the winter and spring. In such situations, entire stands of trees over 
12 mm in diameter are usually infested. 
Many other species of Agrilus also occur in eastern forests. Some of these and 
their more important hosts are as follows: A. juglandis Knull—butternut: A. 
difficilis Gory—honeylocust; A. /econtei Saunders and A. ce/ti Knull—hackberry; 
A. betulae Fisher—river birch; A. cephalicus LeConte—dogwood; A. fuscipennis 
Gory—persimmon; A. egenus Gory—black locust; A. otiosus Say—hickory; and 
A. masculinus Horn—maple (423). 
The genus Buprestis is represented by a fairly large number of wood-boring 
species. Many seem to prefer dead and decayed wood; others are found in either 
weakened or perfectly healthy trees. The larvae construct tunnels in the sapwood 
and often the heartwood and frequently cause serious damage. The adults come in 
many different colors: metallic green, blue, gold, red, yellow, or orange. Often, 
there are many color variations and patterns within a species (555). 
The turpentine borer, B. apricans Herbst, long considered the most important 
eastern member of the genus, occurs throughout the southern coastal regions from 
North Carolina to Texas, and breeds in longleaf, slash, loblolly, shortleaf, and pitch 
pines. The adult (fig. 120) is grayish bronze with a greenish, metallic luster and is 
about 25 mm long. It is elliptical, somewhat flattened, and each elytron bears eight 
rows of large punctures. Full-grown larvae have the prothoracic plates roughened 
and marked above by a dark-brown Y, and they are up to 40 mm long. 
Courtesy Fla. Dep. Agric. & Consum. Serv., 
Div. Plant Ind., photo by V. Jane Windsor 
Figure 120.—Adult of the turpentine borer, 
Buprestis apricans. 
280 
