what's eating my locust?

Not sure what they are but I get them in some of my wood (Oak, Ash) from time to time. Powder Post Beetle, maybe?

I've never noticed much of the wood being eaten away, but I don't think you want them in your house. I've heard here that the bugs become less interested in the wood the drier it gets. I wouldn't know...before now, I've never had any dry wood. :lol:

BTW, Welcome, kattpound!
Others more knowledgeable will be along shortly...

I'd also guess post powder beetles. They like moist wood. They won't eat much. Just keep them away from the house if you have a damp crawl space or basement.

I've got the same thing happening to my Honey Locust. They're not touching anything else. Had the same thing last year. From the larvae it kind of looks like the locust borer. These critters make one heck of a mess. I've been combating them with a carpenter ant / termite solution.

gasavage said:

I've got the same thing happening to my Honey Locust. They're not touching anything else. Had the same thing last year. These critters make one heck of a mess. I combat them with a carpenter ant / termite solution.

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Borax is what is recommended to kill them but if you just let the wood dry they will go away. I sprayed all the wood in my crawl space with a TIMBOR solution, a product made from borax.
They eat the wood with the borax and then they can't digest it and die. It is actually the larvia that eat the wood.

Borax eh? Will have to try that too. I have a half chord being worked over pretty good. There's already enough dust on the ground to make a 6 x 24 compressed log.

Welcome to the forum kattpound.

Powder post beetles are the most common for what you describe. They are worse in some wood than in others. Here they are the worst in dead elm. We pay them no mind and just knock off the fine sawdust before taking into the house.

Definetly some kind of powderpost beetle.Quite common around most hardwoods,I've noticed the sapwood of hickories,honey locust especially,most oaks is like filet mignon to them.Cut a smaller partly dead shagbark in early May,gave about 1/3rd of the wood to a cousin,just noticed 2 days ago that the remainder stacked in my backyard is now covered with a few smaller piles of dust.We did have a very wet May & June here,no rain for 2 weeks now,could use some.Good storm or two expected later today & tonight what with all this 90+ temps & humidity to match.

Big black ants love BL!

smokinjay said:

Big black ants love BL!

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And how. Ive had handfull fall out of a split log. They love older logs here.

kattpound said:

I have about 3 cord of honey locust c/s/s in March. I was out by the stacks tonight and the ground is covered with very fine dust and most split with sapwood is filled with holes smaller than 1/4 inch. Any ideas on what I'm up against?

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I'm down near Piqua/Sidney Ohio and have the exact situation in my locust, also cut, split, and stacked in the spring. My mother in law works for a pest control company and she said it sounded like termites. I bought a blue bottle of Bayer brand termite/carpenter ant killer and made a hot batch and soaked the ground, CMU supports, and the stack with this stuff. In less than 24 hours, i cant hear them eating and i see dead bugs all over the area.

I like the comments here and hope that drying it out will get rid of them. Let us know how it turns out.