Courtesy Duke Univ. Sch. For. 
Figure 139.—Adult of Tylocerina 
nodosa, a pine bark borer. 
attacked occasionally at wounds, the larvae boring into the heartwood. The adult is 
dull black, with the base of the elytra bright red. The upper surface is coarsely 
punctured, and the antennae are generally ringed with yellow. Additional eastern 
species of borers and their hosts include the following: Brachyleptura vagans 
(Olivier)—butternut, hickory, birch, and pine logs; Lepturopsis biforis (New- 
man)—white pine; Pygoleptura nigrella (Say)—pines and spruce; Strangalepta 
vittata (Swederus) and Trachysida mutabilis (Newman)—red spruce; Trigonarthris 
minnesotana (Casey)—hickory, elm, black cherry, and red spruce; and T. proxima 
(Say)—maple, hickory, and basswood. 
Phymatodes testaceus (L.), the tanbark borer, breeds in the bark of dead oak 
trees and occasionally in stored hemlock bark in the Eastern and Central States. 
Adults are elongated, flattened, and are from 8 to 17 mm long. Some are brownish 
yellow or dark brown with lighter elytra and in some the thorax, abdomen, tibiae, 
and tarsi are reddish yellow and the elytra, blue. The remainder are intermediate in 
color. The larvae feed within or beneath the bark and pupation occurs in the 
sapwood. Several years may be required to complete the life cycle. Bark stored for 
tanning purposes is subject to heavy damage. P. dimidiatus (Kirby) breeds in fir, 
spruce, and larch in the Northern States. Adults are from 5 to 11 mm long, and dark 
brown, with a light-brown band across the base of the elytra. P. varius (F.) breeds in 
or beneath the dead bark of hickory and oak in Eastern and Southwestern States. 
The adult is light brown or dark brown to black and shiny. There are white bands on 
the elytra, and the adult borer is 6 to 10 mm long. 
Physocnemum andreae (Haldeman), the cypress bark borer, breeds under the 
bark of girdled, felled, or dead baldcypress trees. The adult is reddish brown and 
ranges in length from 11 to 21 mm. There is a curved white mark on each elytron, a 
small tubercle near the base of the thorax, and club-shaped femora. Eggs are 
deposited beneath bark scales, and the larvae feed beneath the bark, excavating 
large mines that deeply scar the wood. Winter is spent in the larval stage, and 
pupation occurs in the spring. The species often causes serious losses to bald- 
cypress trees felled or girdled during lumbering operations. Rustic work con- 
306 
