Banded Ash Borer facts!!

I rescued this guy from being hit by a car.... and because of it’s black and yellow striped markings and long legs and erratic movements... I thought it was a hornet or wasp at first but it isn’t. It’s an adult Banded Ash Borer. There is a yellow band on the leading edge of the thorax directly behind the head and several yellow bands across the wing covers. The yellow bands on the leading edge of the wing covers form a looped pattern joined along the midline while the other bands are wavy.
Unlike the Emerald Ash Borer which is larger and all green, these borers only focus on already dead or dying trees. Most people get first introduced to them when they bring in firewood for the winter and start seeing these beetles that have escaped from some of the pieces.
They have a complete life cycle of egg, larval, pupal, and adult stages. The females lay eggs in cracks and crevices of bark on dying or recently dead trees. The eggs hatch and the larvae, called round-headed borers, burrow into the wood where they feed until late summer at which time they form pupal chambers just below the bark and spend the winter in this stage. In the spring the adults emerge and look for mates. They complete one generation per year.
Banded ash borer tunnels tend to meander and extend deep into the tree, unlike the emerald ash borer, whose tunnels are tightly S-shaped and restricted to directly under the bark of the tree. The exit holes of banded ash borers are round while those of the emerald ash borers are distinctly D- shaped.
It's very difficult to get clear images of these beetles as they are very fast moving and prone to flight when you get anywhere near them. (I think he liked the ash-color of the line on the road so I’m very glad he took a few moments to stop.)