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Redheaded Ash Borer

Neoclytus acuminatus[3]

The redheaded ash borer is a slender, wasp-like longhorned beetle whose grubs bore in stressed, dying or dead hardwoods and bark-covered logs; adults sometimes emerge from firewood brought indoors but are harmless to people.[1][2]

Group
Insect
Order
Coleoptera
Family
Cerambycidae
US records
46 states
Sources
3 cited
Updated
2026-10-15
Red-headed ash borer, a slender reddish longhorned beetle with yellow bands, on bark
Red-headed ash borer, a slender reddish longhorned beetle with yellow bands, on bark. Photo: wcmorton, public domain (CC0), via iNaturalist
On this page
  1. Identification
  2. Where it lives
  3. Biology
  4. Damage and signs
  5. Health risk
  6. Control
  7. Related profiles
  8. Common questions
  9. Sources

How to identify it

  • Adults are 1/2 to 5/8 inch, with a reddish head and thorax, dark wing covers crossed by four narrow yellow bands (the middle two chevron-shaped) and long reddish legs; they resemble wasps.[1][2]
  • Grubs are pale, legless and grow to almost 1 inch.[1]

Where it lives

Common across the eastern United States, including North Carolina and Missouri.[1][2]

US map: public records from 46 states since 1990 (GBIF).

Biology and life cycle

Females lay eggs in bark of newly planted, stressed, dying or dead trees and felled logs; debarked logs are safe.[1]

Damage and signs

  • Grubs attack nearly all dying and dead hardwoods, preferring ash, hackberry, hickory, oak and persimmon, and can weaken saplings so they snap in wind.[1][2]
  • They can damage logs intended for lumber and emerge from firewood carried indoors.[2]

Health risk

Harmless to people despite looking like a wasp.[2]

Control

Prevention

Keep trees watered, mulched and healthy, prune out dead branches, and keep bark-covered firewood outdoors; larvae already inside trees can't be controlled.[1][2]

Pesticides

A pyrethroid such as permethrin can prevent further attack on an infested tree still worth saving; keep pyrethroids away from ponds and streams.[1]

Common questions

What is the wasp-like beetle that came out of my firewood?
Often a redheaded ash borer, which develops in bark-covered logs.[1][2]
Does it sting?
No; it only looks like a wasp.[2]
Where did it come from indoors?
Usually from bark-covered firewood; the grubs develop in dying or dead hardwoods and logs.[1][2]

Sources

  1. NC State Extension, “Redheaded Ash Borer (PDIC Factsheet).” content.ces.ncsu.edu/redheaded-ash-borer (accessed 2026-10-15)
  2. Missouri Department of Conservation, “Red-Headed Ash Borer (Field Guide).” mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/red-headed-ash-borer (accessed 2026-10-15)
  3. iNaturalist, “Neoclytus acuminatus taxon page (order and family).” www.inaturalist.org/taxa/121732 (accessed 2026-10-06)

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