never seen before
Location: Texas
April 8, 2012 10:17 am
we had a friend bring us some wood he cut on his property in Quitman TX in the area of Lake Fork. He brought it to us in the Dallas TX area and we noticed about 3 weeks after that the the wood had all these bugs swarming all over it. we have never seen anything like this before and can not find anything like it on the site hope you can help we would like to get rid of it but are afreaid to move it as we don’t know if these are dangerous. also this pile of wood is not next to the house but is next to our WOOD fence and do not know if these feed off the wood or not.
Signature: James
Hi James,
Transporting wood that contains the larvae or pupae of insects is one of the most common methods that human beings can facilitate the range expansion of insect species that bore in wood. This is a Red Headed Ash Borer, Neoclytus acuminatus, and according to BugGuide: “Larvae feed on the sapwood of ash and other hardwoods, and even occasionally on vines and shrubs. Larvae are common in downed timber with the bark left on.” Your wood fence would not be an attractive food source for a new generation, but living trees, especially older trees that may already have been weakened by disease or injury are a likely location for laying eggs.