English name+ cure for tree-eating bug

Provincial living: homesteading, farming, gardening, self-efficiency and animal husbandry.
User avatar
Bitte_Kein_Lexus
Expatriate
Posts: 4421
Joined: Sun May 18, 2014 7:32 pm
Reputation: 1325

English name+ cure for tree-eating bug

Post by Bitte_Kein_Lexus »

Can anyone ID this bug? It's a sort of larvae that eats away at trees. When the side of a tree trunk becomes dark (usually leaves start falling off) the bark will feel soft and chunks of tree can be easily removed. Similar to when a tree is infested with termites, but they look like this:
Image
Pardon the bad focus, but they're around 2-4cm long larvae with a weird ringed body, both white and semi-translucent. They also have rather large pincers attached to their head, but apparently they won't bite humans. They seem to run away (or whatever it is larvae do to move) when exposed to light, or when they sense a predator (me).
The "babies" look like tiny wiggling white larvae.

Any idea what these are? And more importantly, any idea what to do to stop them from infesting nice trees?! Locals seem to think one should chop down the part of the tree that's infected, but I'm sure it's possible to poison those little fuckers. Spotting an infected tree is easy (similar to termite infestation), but I don't know if there's a way to prevent infestation or stop one that's already in progress. They seriously look like mini aliens.

Side question: do termites only attack a dead/dying tree or will they also start eating away live trees? I always assumed they only ate dead wood, but I recently saw them in a tree that seemed sort of healthy (but on its last legs, I assumed because of the termites... Or maybe the termites sensed it was dying and moved in?)
Ex Bitteeinbit/LexusSchmexus
User avatar
Khartoum
Expatriate
Posts: 278
Joined: Sat May 17, 2014 8:27 am
Reputation: 99
Sudan

Re: English name+ cure for tree-eating bug

Post by Khartoum »

While by no means a bug expert, my guess would be a termite queen.
User avatar
Bitte_Kein_Lexus
Expatriate
Posts: 4421
Joined: Sun May 18, 2014 7:32 pm
Reputation: 1325

Re: English name+ cure for tree-eating bug

Post by Bitte_Kein_Lexus »

Thanks for the guess, but unfortunately it isn't as there's a whole bunch of them under the bark (+offspring). You can tell some of them have bored in really deep too. It's something entirely different which I've never seen before. Once I know the English name I could probably easily find some ways to kill them off.
Ex Bitteeinbit/LexusSchmexus
giblet
Expatriate
Posts: 424
Joined: Mon May 12, 2014 7:01 pm
Reputation: 3

Re: English name+ cure for tree-eating bug

Post by giblet »

Is there a particular type of tree it goes for?
giblet
Expatriate
Posts: 424
Joined: Mon May 12, 2014 7:01 pm
Reputation: 3

Re: English name+ cure for tree-eating bug

Post by giblet »

Might be the larvae of the Asian long-horned beetle? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_long-horned_beetle
User avatar
frank lee bent
Expatriate
Posts: 11330
Joined: Sat May 17, 2014 4:10 am
Reputation: 2094
United States of America

Re: English name+ cure for tree-eating bug

Post by frank lee bent »

it is definitely a boring beetle.
probably a systemic insecticide/larvacide chem will kill them.
User avatar
Bitte_Kein_Lexus
Expatriate
Posts: 4421
Joined: Sun May 18, 2014 7:32 pm
Reputation: 1325

Re: English name+ cure for tree-eating bug

Post by Bitte_Kein_Lexus »

Thanks Frank. Yep, it's a boring beetle. Apparently they attack dying trees so I guess it's not "that" bad. Might try to cull the tree but I'm not getting my hopes up... I'll have a look at insecicides but it seems that unless the tree is healthy, it might be hard to stop them from coming back.
Ex Bitteeinbit/LexusSchmexus
Post Reply Previous topicNext topic
  • Similar Topics
    Replies
    Views
    Last post

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 75 guests