Males range in length from about 1.25–2.5 cm (½–1 in; measured from the front of the head to the end of the abdomen) with antennae about as long as their bodies.

[citation needed] To serve as habitat, the shrubs apparently must have stems 2.5 cm (1 in) or greater in diameter at ground level.

Field work along the Cosumnes River and in the Folsom Lake area suggests that larval galleries can be found in elderberry stems with no evidence of exit holes.

Extensive destruction of California's Central Valley riparian forests has occurred during the last 150 years due to agricultural and urban development.

The age and quality of individual elderberry shrubs/trees and stands as a food plant for beetle may also be a factor in its limited distribution.