F-504092 
FIGURE 63.—Larva of the twig pruner, Elaphidionoides villosus, in an oak 
twig. Note ends of severed twigs. 
neath bark scales, and the larvae feed beneath the bark during 
the first year of their lives. During the second year, they bore 
in the sapwood. Wood used in making rustic furniture is often 
damaged. EL’. incertum Newm., the mulberry bark borer, a species 
that closely resembles the spined bark borer, breeds in the outer 
bark of living mulberry trees in Eastern United States. Infesta- 
tions have also been recorded in oak and hickory. It does not 
cause serious damage. 
Desmocerus palliatus (Forst.), the elder borer, breeds in elder 
wherever it grows in eastern United States. Adults are bright, 
metallic blue with nearly all of the basal half of the elytra yellow, 
and are about 27 mm. long. The pronotum is much wider than 
long and is constricted at the apex; the wing surfaces are densely 
and coarsely punctured. Eggs are deposited in crevices of the 
bark at the base of the stem. The larvae feed in the roots and base 
of their host, eating out the pith and filling their mines with 
coarse, rather fibrous frass. The larval period lasts 2 to 3 years. 
Heavily infested plants may be seriously injured or killed. 
Deoraschema wildii Uhler, the mulberry borer, breeds in the liv- 
ing branches of mulberry and osage orange in the Southern and 
Central States. The adult is dark brown and from 16 to 22 mm. 
long (fig. 64). The body is covered with fine gray hairs except 
for small bare punctures scattered over the surface. Each wing 
cover has a light brown stripe along its outer margin. 
In the Deep South, adults appear as early as mid-May. Eggs 
are deposited in niches chewed in the bark. Young larvae feed 
between the bark and wood, destroying irregular patches of cam- 
bium up to 2 square inches in area. After about 1 to 3 months 
they bore into the wood, constructing galleries that angle upward 
and inward for a couple of inches and then bend back towards the 
surface. These galleries are close together and often overlap. The 
winter is spent in the larval stage, and the life cycle varies from 
1 to 2 years in length. Suppressed and fire-damaged trees are pre- 
ferred, but vigorous, healthy trees are also attacked occasionally. 
Individual branches and even entire trees may be completely 
girdled and killed. Trees that recover usually have large scars 
193 
