Pest profile

Peach Bark Beetle

Phloeotribus liminaris · Coleoptera: Curculionidae[3]

The peach bark beetle is a tiny bark beetle that attacks stressed black cherry, peach and plum trees, which respond by oozing heavy gum.[1]

No licensed photo of this species is available yet; the identification notes below describe what to look for.

How to identify it

  • Adults are very small, 1.5 to 2 mm long, light to dark brown with fine, long hairs on the wing covers.[1]
  • Attacked trunks can be covered with gum, light at first and darkening to amber, sometimes puddling around the tree.[1]

Where it lives

Penn State Extension covers it on black cherry and stone fruits in Pennsylvania, including an infestation observed in Erie in 2018.[1]

US map: public records from 16 states since 1990 (GBIF).

Biology and life cycle

Adults overwinter in short galleries under the bark and mate in spring; females tunnel across the grain and lay eggs along the tunnels.[1]

Larvae tunnel along the grain, forming brood galleries packed with sawdust-like frass.[1]

Black cherry is preferred, and attacks often follow drought, defoliation, soil compaction or sun damage.[1]

Damage and signs

  • Light infestations are survivable but can lower wood value for veneer; trees attacked heavily or year after year are girdled and die.[1]
  • Gummosis can also come from other borers, fungal disease or storm, pruning and mower injury.[1]

Health risk

It feeds on plants; Penn State Extension mentions no risk to people.[1]

Control

Prevention

Reduce stress by watering in drought and avoiding soil compaction, and control defoliators such as the cherry scallop shell moth.[1]

Sanitation

Remove dead black cherry trees and wood nearby to cut breeding sites.[1]

Biological control

Birds and predatory insects such as clerid beetle larvae help control it.[1]

Pesticides

Pesticides can be used to protect high-value trees.[1]

More from the research literature

A 2021 Journal of Chemical Ecology study notes that black cherry responds to the beetles with gum that stains the wood and can cut its timber value by up to 90%, and found that adult beetles were attracted to cherry branches already infested by female beetles.[2]

Common questions

Why is thick gum oozing from my black cherry tree?
Peach bark beetles are one cause, but borers, disease and mechanical injury also trigger gummosis.[1]
Do peach bark beetles kill trees?
Heavily or repeatedly attacked trees can be girdled and die; lightly infested trees survive.[1]

Sources

  1. Penn State Extension, “Peach Bark Beetle and Cherry Gummosis.” extension.psu.edu/peach-bark-beetle-and-cherry-gummosis (accessed 2026-10-06)
  2. Peer-reviewed literature (PubMed), “Chemically-mediated colonization of black cherry by the peach bark beetle, Phloeotribus liminaris (Ethington MW et al., Journal of chemical ecology, 2021).” pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33616837/ (accessed 2026-10-15)
  3. iNaturalist, “Phloeotribus liminaris taxon page (order and family).” www.inaturalist.org/taxa/227852 (accessed 2026-10-06)

Updated 2026-10-15. Built from sourced records. Spot an error? Tell us.