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Occurrence Patterns and Control Methods of the Pear Buprestid Beetle

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The pear buprestid beetle begins eclosing in late April, and in early to mid-May the adults chew an oval-round hole to emerge. After emerging, the adults feed on leaves during the day, rest quietly on the leaves in the morning and evening, and when startled have the habit of dropping to the ground and feigning death. About 10 days after emergence and activity, the adults begin to lay eggs; before laying, they crawl along the trunk and insert their ovipositors into rough, raised cracks in the bark to lay eggs, mostly at the fork junctions of branches and trunks that are 2 years old or older, laying 2-3 eggs per site, with each female able to lay 20-40 eggs. Mid to late May is the peak egg-laying period, and early June is the peak hatching period. After hatching, the larvae first bore into the cortex

The pear buprestid beetle begins eclosing in late April, and in early to mid-May the adults chew an oval-round hole to emerge. After emerging, the adults feed on leaves during the day, rest quietly on the leaves in the morning and evening, and when startled have the habit of dropping to the ground and feigning death. About 10 days after emergence and activity, the adults begin to lay eggs; before laying, they crawl along the trunk and insert their ovipositors into rough, raised cracks in the bark to lay eggs, mostly at the fork junctions of branches and trunks that are 2 years old or older, laying 2-3 eggs per site, with each female able to lay 20-40 eggs. Mid to late May is the peak egg-laying period, and early June is the peak hatching period. After hatching, the larvae first bore into the cortex and cause damage, and water-soaked black spots appear on the damaged cortex; the spots gradually expand and dry-crack, closely resembling rot disease lesions.

The emergence time of adult pear buprestid beetles is not uniform, and after hatching the larvae bore into the branches and trunks to cause damage, so control is relatively difficult. Two years of control trials show that focusing on the following 4 aspects for control can achieve good results.

1. In combination with winter pruning, cut off pest-damaged branches and trunks, scrape off rough and cracked bark, and promptly clean the orchard to reduce overwintering pest sources.

2. Starting from adult emergence in early May, spray insecticides on the branches and trunks once every 7-10 days, for 3 consecutive times, to kill the adults. Using 40% chlorpyrifos emulsifiable concentrate at 800-1000 times dilution, or fipronil emulsifiable concentrate at 1500-2000 times dilution, gives relatively good results.

3. Taking advantage of the adults' habit of dropping to the ground when startled and feigning death, organize manpower to shake the trees in the early morning to capture and kill the adults.

4. After the larvae hatch and bore into the cortex, the damaged area becomes sunken and black, making it easy to identify; the larvae under the cortex can be dug out with a knife; or a knife can be used to make several vertical cuts at the damaged area deep into the xylem to kill the larvae; 80% dichlorvos emulsifiable concentrate at 20 times dilution can also be injected into the larval tunnels and sealed with yellow mud slurry to fumigate and kill the larvae.

Among the above 4 methods, timely and continuous spraying during the adult emergence period can effectively control the damage of the pear buprestid beetle, and is the key period for control. In addition, for adult control, spraying should stop 1 month before fruit harvest, and insecticide injection into branches and trunks to fumigate larvae should be carried out after fruit harvest, to ensure the food safety of the fruit.

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