The adult moths are beautiful and impressively large. They have a wingspan of 10 cm; the size of the palm of your hand. The forewings are greenish brown with brown streaking. The hind-wings are orange-red with a bold black horizontal stripe interrupted with 6 white spots. Females are bigger than males and have a prominent ovipositor. The antennae are clubbed.

Eggs are oblong and rose-brown. They are approximately 5 mm long and 1.5 mm wide.

Larvae look like rose-white grubs with a brown head shield. The rose colour fades, as they develop. An adult larva is on average 9 cm long, 1.5 cm wide and the head shield measures 8 mm.

Before larvae pupate, they make an oblong cocoon out of palm tree fibres. These cocoons measure about 6 cm long and 2 cm wide. Pupae are red-brown and around 5 cm long.

The palm borer flies from mid-May to September, with a peak in June and July. Unlike other moths, they are active during the day.

Eggs are deposited on palm fibres close to the crown. A female deposits 140 eggs, more or less.

The larvae hatch after 2-3 weeks. On their search for food and shelter, they bore into the trunk. The palm borer overwinters as larva, sometimes twice, and, as result the larval stage can last 11 (one-year cycle) to 19 months (two-year cycle). In total there are nine larval instar stages.

The prepupa stage lasts approximately 2.5 weeks. In this stage the cocoon is generated. The pupal stage lasts 1.5 to 2.5 months, depending on the period in which cocoons were formed, respectively half July and half March. Hence, cocoons can be found between mid-March and begin September.

The total life cycle of the palm borer Paysandisia archon is more or less 13 months for a one-year cycle and 23 months in case of a two-year cycle.

Besides the observation of the remarkable adult palm borers, feeding damage caused by the larvae can easily be recognized.

Generally sawdust is found in the palm crown or on the stem. The leaves are chewed and show perforations. Galleries are formed inside the stem.

Moreover an aberrant development of leaf buds can be observed, as well as turned stems.

Affected palm trees dry out and soon wilt.