Morning all. I have been noticing very fine saw dust covering the small wood pile I have on my porch. I did not think much of it, until this morning I found tell tale sign of insect activity when I went to reload. There appear to be "bore sites" in 2 rows the entire length of some of my splits. Each "bore site" has a pile of fine saw dust 1/4" to 1/2" in size. I will be removing the wood from the porch asap, but am worried it is some sort of termite that may have found their way into my house by now. This is in NE Pennsylvania. I purchased the house 2 years ago from family. They did not find any evidence of insect activity during the inspection. The other thing to note. I cannot find any holes on this piece of wood. So they are very small, or the saw dust pictured is actually from the piece of wood that was above it. I will look closer after work. Anyone ever experience this??
Looks like powder post as fishingpol said above. Here's a good article on the little buggers. I have the exit holes in a lot of my wood in my stacks. I've never noticed a problem in the house but I only bring enough wood in for a couple loads at a time. The article basically says they don't attack old dry wood and they only infest hard woods. Powderpost Beetles | Entomology
I agree on the PPB activity but do not agree with the article. The only reason I do not agree is that I've seen first hand many times when the danged insects get into shovel handles, axe handles, post hole digger handles, etc. Needless to say, they leave them a bit weakened. As for the ones we find in the wood piles; no problem at all. Perhaps where we find them the worst is in dead elm. Almost always we'll find them in there somewhere. It can be amazing how much dust you can find on one log.
So it's unlikely they entered the framing of my house & porch that the wood was stacked against/on? I attached a picture of the bore holes. Looks like they are staying very shallow, directly under the bark.
Yes, it is very unlikely. We've never had that problem nor have I ever heard of someone having that problem.
Back in my high school days I cut up a cherry tree from my grandparents yard. I took the best sections home for wood working. I sealed the ends and stacked them in the basement to dry out. A few weeks or months later all the powder post beetles emerged and flew all over the basement. My dad was not too happy about it. I still have some cherry bases of the bird carvings to remind me. I've only seen them in fresh cut wood and not dry wood. I read they don't like it below a certain moisture content.
Powder post beetles as have been mentioned above. Unlikely to enter home framing as there are multiple substrates to progress through Termites will leave small mud tunnels covering their work. They don't care about barriers or what material they eat as long as moisture, warmth and return route to the ground are available
