Insects and Spiders - native

Metallic Wood Borer, Buprestis viridisuturalis (Buprestis viridisuturalis) on Sep 16, 2022

Originally reported as Emerald Ash Borer (Agrilus planipennis)

Submitter does not have a specimen

Description of specimen

metallic green with color fading, presumably because it was dead/dying. I took some pictures and looked up the ash borer and similar insects. I'm not completely sure it's the ash borer but it seems pretty close

Commentary

Thank you for your report! This is not EAB. It's a native member of the Metallic Wood-boring beetle family, Buprestis viridisuturalis. These beetles are larger and less slender than EAB. They are not tree killers.

There are a number of iridescent green look-alike beetles in Oregon that are not pests. I am attaching a link to the ODA EAB webpage with some photos of other Oregon insects that could be mistaken for EAB

https://www.oregon.gov/oda/programs/IPPM/SurveyTreatment/Documents/EABLookAlikes.pdf

Thanks for being on the lookout!

Tom Valente
Sept. 16, 2022, 3:13 a.m.

Location

On a gravel path next to the Willamette River in Independence Landing Park between city hall and the amphitheater. There's a thin riparian zone between the path and the river but the path is not "in the trees." I'm not great at identifying trees but most of the trees in the riparian area are cottonwoods. It was moving slightly when I first walked by and was dead when I came back.

Expert Reviewer

Tom Valente
Oregon Department of Agriculture

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