About Plectrodera scalator (Fabricius, 1793)
The adult cottonwood borer (Plectrodera scalator) is a large longhorn beetle with black-and-white coloration, and black antennae that are as long as, or longer than, its body. The white patches on its body are formed by microscopic clusters of hair. Larvae are legless and cylindrical, with creamy-white bodies and brown-to-black heads, and they grow up to 38 millimetres (1.5 inches) long.
For its life cycle, female cottonwood borers chew small pits at the base of host trees to lay their eggs. Larvae can take up to two years to reach maturity. Once mature, they pupate inside a root below ground level, where they remain for approximately three weeks. After metamorphosis is complete, the new adult chews its way out of the root and digs up to the ground surface.
