Twig girdler doing minor damage to certain trees in North Texas

You may be asking yourself, “What’s up with all these small limbs in my yard?” Well, you have a population of twig girdlers (Oncideres pustulatus) in your area. The adults are known as a species of Longhorn Beetles.

These beetles will chew small groves in the last 2-3 feet of tree branches and lay their eggs. They will then go above the egg area and chew the “twig” into or nearly so. When the twig dies, it falls off the tree. Once that happens, the eggs hatch, the larvae/pupae feed under the bark.

The good things with all this is that, damage to the tree is insignificant.

I have noticed the twigs in my yard for about 2 weeks now. Trees that the beetles like are: elm, hackberry, hickory, mimosa, pecan, persimmon and red oak in our area. The trees they attacked in my yard are cedar elm.

If you have questions, contact the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service at 903-518-9513 x3 or Randy.Moore@tx.usda.gov.