AusBonsai

It appears I may have a borer on a casuarina littoralis.

Can anyone please suggest, what is the best tip to get rid of the borer(s). The base of the trunk is only 1.5 cm thick, so it is a young tree.

if you can see the hole --a piece of thin wire with a hook poked in and twisted around could do the trick--or tip some pyrethrum into the hole

No, it is fairly new, (the borer), and there is no hole, just munching on the outside at the moment.

If it is in the frass on the outside; just pick it off and squash it.

Grant

Yeah, I wish it was that easy. I have only seen one and they are TINY, i mean, TINY. less than 1 mm thick. I have just sprayed with Confidor. I spoke to Ray Nesci, and he said to continue spraying for a few fortnights so will see how that goes.

can stick a wire in and try to scurer it

I'm having the same problem and have read that nothing really kills them. I've just cut back a big fig with great trunk and now it’s slowly starting to die back. When I peel back bark there's little white grubs, similar to a maggot but tiny. As I spray with confidor it seems to drive them further down the trunk. On my fig they don't really penetrate the wood but sit under the bark. I was having success when I planted lavender around the trunk as this discourages them. Now I've hit with heaps of dynamic lifter and seasol to get the tree to fight them itself. Hope that makes sense. maybe it will work.