In 1996 it was discovered in a park in New York, where native plantings of arrowwood (Viburnum dentatum complex) were found to be heavily damaged by larval feeding.

[1] The UK-based Royal Horticultural Society stated that its members reported Pyrrhalta viburni as the "number one pest species" in 2010.

[2][3] The spined soldier bug, Podisus maculiventris is used and developed as a biological control agent against the beetle.

Female beetles burrow into the underside viburnum terminal twigs and create 'spaces' in pith tissue.

Ultimately, they pupate in the soil and emerge as adults in late June or early July.