Firewood eating insect ID

[bboulier]

Insects have been drilling hole through the bark in some of my firewood and eating their way into the interiors of the splits. They leave lots of sawdust. Finally found one of the buggers today. One picture shows the larvae and some damage; the other shows more of the damage. What is it and is there anything I should do about it? Wood is up on pallets and this piece is maybe 3 years old.

 

[WarmGuy]

Looks like a roundheaded borer.

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http://extension.oregonstate.edu/sorec/what-are-those-worms-my-firewood

To reduce the chances that beetles will invade your firewood, harvest and process green material (such as standing madrone) during the fall and winter, when the beetles are not in flight.​

 

[Locust Post]

I am pretty sure that is either what they call the round head wood borer or flat head borer. I don't know if there really is anything you can do about them though. Some others may know.

 

[cygnus]

Ya burn 'em. I had a batch of hickory that was infested. Some research indicated that they will mature and take flight in the spring so I think its best get that stuff in the stove to avoid infesting your local trees.

 

[bogydave]

Saw them in a few dead, partially rotten logs growing up in WV.
Fishing bait is what I called them.

Never noticed them to be in big numbers like an infestation or be a problem.
Few & far between. IMO

That a hard maple split?

 

[bboulier]

Saw them in a few dead, partially rotten logs growing up in WV.
Fishing bait is what I called them.

Never noticed them to be in big numbers like an infestation or be a problem.
Few & far between. IMO

That a hard maple split?

Nicely spotted. It is maple, although I am not sure of the variety. "Fishbait" sounds like a good use, but it's the wrong time of year. I used to ice fish in Nebraska in February, but have given up any attempts at fishing this time of year in Northern Virginia. Will wait until the bluegills (or bream, depending on where you grew up) start spawning in the spring.

 

[bboulier]

Thanks for the suggestions. It does look like a round or flat headed borer. Will try to pass it on to the Virginia extension agents to get a specific ID.

Doesn't seem to do much damage to the firewood in a volumetric sense, although I do have to knock sawdust off of my splits before bringing them inside. Don't see any damage from this pest on my living fruit trees (pear, Asian pear, fig, Asian persimmon, and pomegranate) or other species (e.g., Japanese maple and weeping cherry)..

 

[bogydave]

Bluegills
Dad & I used them for trout.

 

[jrcurto]

The Woodpeckers go nuts on my Hickory stacks. Now that they know there are borers in there, they spend all day banging at the splits. Its pretty cool watching them work to find the sound or hollow where the borer is, then peck and slam, and eventually pull that juicy morsel out.

 

[Wood Duck]

I have had these for years, but no sign that they are becoming a real problem. I get a few here and there, and the damage is minor. The sawdust is the biggest problem, but not really a big deal.

 

[ScotO]

Every species has it's own borers.......you oughta see my honey locust in the stacks.....piles of sawdust EVERYWHERE from the locust borers......seems like only the sapwood, though.

That is probably a maple borer, being a split of maple. Either way, burn 'em or use 'em for bait. Once they are in the wood, they are in the wood.....

 

[Woody Stover]

Saw them in a few dead, partially rotten logs growing up in WV.
Never noticed them to be in big numbers like an infestation or be a problem.
That a hard maple split?

+1. Same holds true here. I'll see 'em from time to time, but never enough to make me think it's an infestation. I don't worry about 'em.

 

[ansehnlich1]

wonder how many cord they go through in a season....

 

[Locust Post]

I have never had much problem with borers other than powder post beetles and they love hickory.

 

[bboulier]

Scott is probably correct. I don't think I see them in anything but maple. While that's a high proportion of my wood pile at present,, I don't need to worry much about them infesting any live maples in the yard for the same reason. They don't do a lot of damage in the firewood. But, it is annoying to have to knock sawdust off all my splits.

 

[KaptJaq]

If it is only in maple you might want to make sure they are not Asian longhorned beetle pupa. It is a very invasive species that goes after maple.. They have been found in many areas of north/eastern US and Canada.

(broken link removed to http://www.tcf-fca.ca/tree-killers/asian-longhorn-beetle.htm)
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KaptJaq

 

[bboulier]

If it is only in maple you might want to make sure they are not Asian longhorned beetle pupa. It is a very invasive species that goes after maple.. They have been found in many areas of north/eastern US and Canada.

(broken link removed to http://www.tcf-fca.ca/tree-killers/asian-longhorn-beetle.htm)
(broken link removed)

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KaptJaq

Thanks for the suggestion. I plan to contact the Virginia extension service to see if they can provide a sharper ID. It's clearly a round headed borer, but there's no way I can tell them apart.

 

[Paulywalnut]

They can give you a nasty bite if you pick them up wrong. I think they are blind though.

 

[STICK]

Wow! I thought those borers were only a problem for pine. Those pictures look like what is quite an infestation in the pine in Colorado. I have noticed they start in the sweet spot just under the bark, but they do progress into the more solid portion of the tree. I have found standing trees with little substance remaining at the base due to this infestation. If given enough time, their boring can become so dense that little of substanse for burning remains. I tried to burn some of that mess once = mistake. It would not ignite well and produced mostly smoke, not much heat. If given enough time they will destroy the heat value of fuelwood. I frequently cut a good looking log, then split and find a borer dropped out from the split. The long term drought and mild temperatures in winter in this area has been attributed to severe infestation. If noticed, it is best to split promptly and separate that wood and burn as soon as possible. They will infest everything. They do not seem to progress as well in splits compared to whole logs.

 

[westkywood]

Yep, I've seen those in my Hickory. Some of the worst I've seen as far as wood borers was in Willow Oak. Some reason those guys turned a lot of it to sawdust.
With Maple and Cherry, I find they like to eat the sap under the bark so when I pick up the wood, the bark falls off and dust goes flying. Cherry was the worst of the two.

 

[qlty]

I saw them on the Survivor TV show he was eating them and called them wichie grubs

 

[qlty]

I saw them on the Survivor TV show he was eating them and called them wichie grubs