AusBonsai

Hey all,

After going on a bit of a buying spree, I was repotting one of my new plants. I’d been told it had previously had a borer infestation, so when half way through repotting a small piece of bark next to the nebari came away and a borer was underneath I was icked, but not surprised.

I got a piece of wire, poked it to kill it, poked all the holes I could see (which are hopefully old ones), finished repotting, cleaned all my tools and surfaces with isopropyl alcohol and came here.

My suspicion is that this is an egg which hatched from the previous owners infestation. My q is, now what? Should I expect more? Is there something I can use to kill eggs? Is there a risk to my other plants? Help?

Thanks,

Jas

I don't think there's any more risk to your other plants than usual. Need to remember that adult borers fly so they can come to your trees from further afield as well as from close.
Also the grub you killed could not lay eggs. It is the larval form of the borer. They can only lay eggs as an adult which is a beetle or sometimes a moth depending which borer you had.
I don't know of anything that will kill borer eggs. You'll just need to monitor and treat the larvae if/when you find them.

Are you certain you found a borer? Borer grubs are usually in holes deep in the trunk, not just under the bark. Pity you did not take any photos so we could ID the creature.

Thanks for that. I’ll keep and eye out just in case and if it happens aging an, I’ll take a photo. I think the ice factor got to me a bit.

I’d snap some pics and send them through to DPRID. You can use the MyPestGuide app for that. There are many native borers so they can help ID which one it is. Otherwise you need to keep it monitored as to, if it is PSHB, it could spread and cause massive damage in your area and your other trees. Don’t forget to look up which trees are their targets. Sadly, quite a few of our natives are affected