In loving memory of Kenis D. Keathley 6/4/81 - 3/27/22 Loving father, husband, brother, friend and firewood hoarder Rest in peace, Dexterday

Who's That Munching on My Wood?

Discussion in 'The Wood Pile' started by MrWhoopee, Sep 13, 2019.

  1. MrWhoopee

    MrWhoopee

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    (to the tune of "Who's That Knocking at My Door")

    I stepped outside to take some air yesterday when I heard a faint crunch, crunch, crunch coming from the direction of the stacks, which were about 30 feet away. It sounded familiar. I followed it to its source, an unsplit round of white fir on the top of the most recent stack. There was a fairly large pile of frass under the round, which I recognized immediately. It was the tell-tale sign of one of these little beggars.
    [​IMG]

    a pine sawyer or roundheaded wood borer, the larvae of the Pine Sawyer or Longhorn Pine Beetle.
    [​IMG]

    It's amazing how much noise these things make and how much wood they can chew up. Fortunately, they only bore in the sapwood, so the depth of the destruction is limited. They are about 1-1/2 in. long, I've been wondering how they'd be pickled in tequila.

    While excavating for my leach field, I found similar grubs, but much larger. They were about 4 in. long, the size of a large tomato worm. Never did figure out what they were.
     
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  2. Backwoods Savage

    Backwoods Savage Moderator

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    Fry them in the fire!
     
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  3. jrider

    jrider

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    They do make some noise while munching away!
     
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  4. imwiley1

    imwiley1

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    Sapsuckers had hammered a White pine on the edge of my yard. This attracted the pine borers. I could sit 50 yards away and listen to the chewing . 1 season and the tree was a gonner. Could the larger grubs be Junebeetle. larvae? We have them here but more like 2" long.
     
  5. billb3

    billb3

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    Seymour Simons or Pat Enright ?



    June bug larvae are rather large and eat lawn roots.
     
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  6. MrWhoopee

    MrWhoopee

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    Louis Jordan, as performed by Olive Oyl

     
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  7. metalcuttr

    metalcuttr

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    I have no experience with the wood borers but will relate a similar story. My Wife has hearing like a bat. This makes it difficult for me to discuss wood gathering or hunting plans with a buddy when she can hear our conversation from the other room through a closed door while she is watching TV! She kept telling me that she was hearing crunching/chewing noises from outside at night while we were in bed. I thought she was ...well...batty. As it turns out, there was a small paper wasp nest outside our bedroom in the eaves of the roof. Apparently the little bastage wasps grit their mandibles all night long and it makes a noise that the Wif could hear. Go figure! The pressure washer solved that problem!
     
    Last edited: Sep 13, 2019
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  8. MrWhoopee

    MrWhoopee

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    Wow! Sounds like you and your friends need to learn to sign (or start texting).
     
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  9. In the Pines

    In the Pines

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    That's what garages and air compressors are for :)
    My hearing is like that, that's how I found the yellow jacket nest in my wall.
     
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  10. buZZsaw BRAD

    buZZsaw BRAD

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    If they like eating it, your wood must be "well seasoned" then!
    I find all sorts of grubs in logs/splits. Sometimes if there is a lot, ill bring them up and put them out for the birds.
     
  11. MrWhoopee

    MrWhoopee

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    "Well Seasoned"! They attack weakened and freshly felled trees. Once things dry out, they do too. I've found them mummified under the bark. They seem to prefer white fir (and perhaps Doug fir) around here. The smell of freshly split wood seems to attract the yellow jackets, which start feeding on the helpless borers.
     
    Last edited: Sep 13, 2019
  12. MrWhoopee

    MrWhoopee

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    BINGO! You just solved the other mystery, what the hell are those giant beetles that are attracted to my porch lights. Why they call them June Beetles I can't imagine, we get them in November - January.
     
  13. Biddleman

    Biddleman

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    Are these Junebeetle larvae? 20190913_204831.jpg
     
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  14. billb3

    billb3

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    They don't look fat enough.
     
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  15. XXL

    XXL

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    I spent a summer sawing lumber on a portable band saw mill and those white spotted pine sawyer would land on the back of my neck a couple of times a day, usually when you had an arm full of lumber. I got to hate those things and got real good at the grab drop and stomp on them. To this day, it brings a smile to my face digging through the wood pile to find the one piece of wood going crunch, crunch crunch and throwing it in the fire.:)
     
  16. MrWhoopee

    MrWhoopee

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    They look more like pine sawyers, did they come out of the ground or out of a split?
     
    Last edited: Sep 14, 2019
  17. metalcuttr

    metalcuttr

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    I gather you mean that, in the garage with the compressor going, would make it hard for her to hear that I was planning to stack wood in her parking spot. Well... maybe. I guess I really need a "Cone of Silence" like Maxwell Smart had!
     
  18. T.Jeff Veal

    T.Jeff Veal

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    Flat head borers. I get them alot.
     
  19. Biddleman

    Biddleman

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    Out of split
     
  20. FatBoy85

    FatBoy85

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    I’d help him out with that!
     
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