Boring Insects and Trees
A wide variety of insects eat the trunk, wood, bark, and limbs of trees for their main source of food. These are commonly called wood boring insects, specifically beetles, moths, and various wasps. Weak, sick, dying, or broken wood is the primary target for wood boring insects. This is because it is easier to breakdown, chew, and digest for the wood borers. Most wood boring insects cause damage to trees by creating networks of tunnels on the inside of the tree’s cambium.
The cambium is the inner layer of bark on the tree’s trunk. These tunnels directly intercept water and nutrients that normally go towards the crown for leaf production. This is where things can get difficult for our trees. There are many ways to see if wood borers are infesting your trees. These insects often leave behind feces that resemble crushed up wood or sawdust. The tunnels they dig are round and will normally follow some sort of pattern on the trunk. Watching out for these types of insects can mean the difference between life and death for your tree. If you need help identifying a wood borer infestation calling your local arborist is the right step forward.
