Source: NCSU COOPERATIVE EXTENSION, 4/26/20


Maple shoot borers (Proteoteras aesculana) are common pests of red maples in nurseries. Amanda Taylor, Area Specialized Agent – Nursery and Greenhouse, just emailed an alert indicating maple shoot borers are active in WNC nurseries now. Maple shoot borers are caterpillars that bore into young maple tips. They cause flagging and dieback of the apical shoots.

Maple shoot borer adults are small nondescript moths that lay eggs on maple stems near expanding buds in early spring. After hatching the caterpillar burrows into the growing shoot where it feeds on the vascular cambium. As the larvae develops it expels frass and silk from the hole through which it entered the stem. Young stems and leaves above the point where the larvae entered eventually die. Mature larvae exit the shoot then pupate on the ground.

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