Pest profile

Raspberry Cane Borer

Oberea perspicillata · Coleoptera: Cerambycidae[2]

Raspberry cane borer attacks blackberry, raspberry and rose, causing tip dieback and cane death.[1]

Raspberry cane borer, a slender black long-horned beetle with an orange thorax marked with black dots, on a leaf
Raspberry cane borer, a slender black long-horned beetle with an orange thorax marked with black dots, on a leaf. (c) Zachary Dankowicz, some rights reserved (CC BY) — via iNaturalist, CC BY 4.0

How to identify it

  • The adult is a slender, black long-horned beetle about 1/2 inch long with a yellow-orange thorax bearing two or three black dots.[1]
  • Damage is easy to recognize: two rings of punctures about 1/2 inch apart, 4 to 6 inches below the growing tip.[1]
  • The larva is white, legless and cylindrical, reaching nearly 3/4 inch.[1]

Look-alikes

Look-alikeHow to tell them apart
Rednecked cane borerA smaller metallic beetle with a coppery-red neck whose larvae make swollen galls on canes rather than girdling rings.[1]

Where it lives

UK Extension covers it as a pest of blackberries, raspberries and roses.[1]

US map: public records from 31 states since 1990 (GBIF).

Biology and life cycle

Adults appear about June, puncture the two rings and lay an egg between them; eggs hatch in July.[1]

The larva bores toward the cane base, overwinters, keeps burrowing to ground level the second season, and emerges as an adult the next spring.[1]

Damage and signs

  • The girdles make the tip wilt, and as the larva burrows to the base the whole cane can die before the fruit matures.[1]

Health risk

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

Control

Sanitation

Prune out infested canes a few inches below the puncture rings or below the larval tunnel.[1]

Traps and physical control

Check plantings weekly in June and July for wilting tips with the two rings of punctures.[1]

Common questions

Why did the tips of my raspberry canes suddenly wilt?
Two rings of punctures a few inches below the wilted tip point to raspberry cane borer.[1]
Do I need to spray for raspberry cane borer?
UK Extension's control is pruning infested canes below the rings or the larval tunnel.[1]

Sources

  1. University of Kentucky Entomology (ENTFACT), “Rednecked and Raspberry Cane Borers (ENTFACT-209).” entomology.mgcafe.uky.edu/ef209 (accessed 2026-10-06)
  2. iNaturalist, “Oberea perspicillata taxon page (order and family).” www.inaturalist.org/taxa/226082 (accessed 2026-10-06)

Updated 2026-10-14. Built from sourced records. Spot an error? Tell us.