The Lesser Peachtree Borer (Synanthedon pictipes) is a moth

Moth

A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. Moths form the majority of this order; there are thought to be 150,000 to 250,000 different species of moth , with thousands of species yet to be described...

 of the Sesiidae

Sesiidae

The Sesiidae or clearwing moths are family of the Lepidoptera in which the wings partially have hardly any of the normal lepidopteran scales, leaving them transparent. The bodies are generally striped with yellow, red or white, sometimes very brightly, and they have simple antennae...

 family. It is known from the eastern half of Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 and the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 westward to Minnesota

Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

 in the north and eastern Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

 in the south.
The wingspan

Wingspan

The wingspan of an airplane or a bird, is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777 has a wingspan of about ; and a Wandering Albatross caught in 1965 had a wingspan of , the official record for a living bird.The term wingspan, more technically extent, is...

 is 18-25 mm. Adults are black with a metallic sheen and whitish yellowish markings on the head and thorax and a narrow band on the abdomen. The wings are transparent. Males and females are similar, but males are more slender and have a finely tufted antenna. Adults emerge over the entire growing season, but peaking in spring and early summer. Spring generations emerge from early April to late July, while summer generations emerge from early July to November. There are two generations per year in the south and one (although sometimes a partial second) generation occurs in the north.

The larvae feed on peach, plum, cherry, beach plum and black cherry. Peach is the major cultivated plant host and the principal native wild plants attacked are cherry and plum. The larvae usually establish in bark cavities around wound margins and may infest old uninjured trees that have rough bark. Cytospora

Cytospora

Cytospora is a genus of ascomycete fungi. Cytospora species are known as plant pathogens.-External links:*...

species cankers are particularly favorable for invasion. When development is completed, larvae construct cocoons to pupate.