Peach Twig Borer

The larvae of the peach twig borer are almost white with a distinct black head. As larvae mature they become chocolate brown with alternating dark and light bands around the abdomen.

Mature larvae are about 0.5 inch long. Peach Twig Borer pupae are 0.25 to 0.4 inch long, brown in color and lack a cocoon. Adults are 0.3 to 0.4 inch long with steel gray, mottled forewings. The long, narrow forewings are lightly fringed; the lighter gray hindwings are more heavily fringed. They have the appearance of a snout.

Eggs are bluntly oval and yellowish to orange in color. They are laid on twigs, leaves, or on the fruit surface. They overwinter on the tree as a larva within a tiny cell. These cells are located in crotches of 1- to 3-year-old wood, in pruning wounds, or in deep cracks in bark.

Larvae emerge in early spring, usually just before and during bloom, and migrate up twigs and branches where they attack newly emerged leaves and shoots.

Photo courtesy of Clemson University Department of Entomology, Soils & Plant Sciences, Cooperative Extension Service.

For control products and more information please see our Borer Control page.