Fruits and Plantation Crops
Not sure it is this pest? Use the Pest Finder in anee.io ›
Shot hole borer
Tiny black or brown beetles drill many pinholes in the trunk and main branches of stressed trees, often together with Phytophthora canker.
Crops it attacks
Where the damage shows
In the stems, vines or trunk
When to act
Each month look at the trunk and main branches for clusters of pinholes with fine sawdust, often near cankers that ooze. A few holes on a weak tree mean fix its stress now. Holes all over a dying branch mean cut it.
Before you spray
Sprays do not reach the beetles in the wood. Keep trees vigorous, treat canker and burn heavily bored wood.
How to prevent it
- Treat Phytophthora canker on the trunk early. The beetles come to trees already sick or stressed.
- Cut and burn heavily bored branches and dead trees at once, before the new beetles leave them.
- Keep trees vigorous: good drainage, mulch, water in the dry season and balanced fertilizer.
- Avoid trunk wounds from tools and ladders, and seal pruning cuts.
- Do not stack fresh cut durian or other wood near the orchard. It draws and breeds the beetles.
Not sure it is this one?
Many pests look alike. Send a photo to Anee, the smart farm technician in anee.io. She reads it with your crop, its age and the weather, and tells you what it most likely is and what to do first. In Tagalog or English.