Here goes:
I live in a 16 year-old log house in NW Conn. that I built myself. Over the last 2-3 years I have been invaded by a mystery insect that is drilling holes in the outside of the logs. They are not eating the wood as little piles of sawdust are left. They are not termites, carpenter ants or powder-post beetles. This flying driller is about 1/4″ – 3/8″ long and the holes are less than 1/16″ diameter. They are black with a faint gray stripe (I think).
I captured a few of them and brought them to the CT Agricultural Station and they could not identify them either. My tax dollars at work!!! LOL Looking at them under a microscope they suggested some kind of bee or wasp based on the body arrangement. I tend to agree as one of the bastages stung me! They were quite intrigued and sent them to “headquarters” and I haven’t heard a peep since.
Has anyone seen these and do you know what they are? I’d like to know so that I may choose the correct toxic substance to zap them with.
Thanks,
Egon
Replies
efix-
How about posting a picture of this critter?
Egon,
Google on horntail and sawfly wasp. Neither one does much damage.
KK
Looking - man there's a lot of insects out there!!!
Not a horntail, much much smaller. I'll try to make a pic.
Good Luck on your war with the bugs. remember that we are the invaders and mild containment is the best we can hope for.
At the U of MN. they have a lab for identefacation --but alas I believe they spec. in agricultural.
If you can post some pictures i can forward them and let them have a shot at it
This is one war we are not going to outright win.
Agreed: The best solution would be to chase them over to those lovely trees over there!
Here's my first pic posting attempt......
gook looking kids ya got there.
I'll see if a friend of mine has any insight.
Hey, while we're at it, can anyone identify this bug? Found it on a window in my shed a few weeks ago. That tail on it is about 3 to 3 1/2 long.
Thanks, Mike
Poor guy must have been backed up for a long while.
I think that's an ichneumom wasp. They are parasitic on wood wasps! Send efix2 some will ya?
http://ca.essortment.com/ichneumonwasps_rwum.htm
KK
Edited 10/1/2004 6:05 pm ET by kkearney
Looks like what we call a 'sweat wasp' around here. They live in trees. I don't think they are social like ants and I believe they don't burrow into the wood but rather hide in existing holes. I could be wrong on the second point.
We have a lot of them round here as the storms dropped a lot of their habitat trees. These suckers are known as sweat wasps because the fly down and crawl across your brow when you work. If you slap at them and fail to cleanly whisk it away or crush it really fast it stings you. Sometimes they will get in the crook of your elbow or knee and sting you when they get caught. Tender spots and painful places to have even a tiny sting. Around the eyes are the worse.
This raises a welt that can take some time to heal. Tobacco or cigarette ash and spit dabbed on the sting seems to make it hurt less and heal faster.
These are "Y2K" bugs....very rare.
Rare you say?
For the very tiny price, relative their rarity, of twenty dollars a piece I would gladly ship you, shall we say, a couple of hundred of these troublesome, and painful, critters.
I'll need more information ...
what do they taste like?
bitter or sweet ....
Jeff
Buck Construction, llc Pittsburgh,PA
Artistry in Carpentry
Tart - with a woody bouquet and an asparagus aftertaste............
Ive seen the first bug here alot on poplar siding and log homes.A bout the size of a mosquito they drill tiny holes pushing out tiny trails of dust.They hover around the holes sometimes.I look at the log..thier size and say " eat a way, i got bigger fish to fru." The second bug is a damsel fly i believe.That long prong is nt for inflight refueling but is the ovipositor or egg shoot.Theyre harmless to us (and houses) but i think theyre a predator of dragong flies.I think the trichomma wasp is a bit bigger.Used a s a part of integregated pest mangement they will leg eggs on catepillars like the big green tomato hornworm.
Egon, actually pretty good pictures, but not good enough - most likely Family Chalcididae (Superfamily Chalcidoidea): commonly 'the Chalcid Wasps' - - the largest family of the order Hymenoptera with thousands of species - - the reason your tax dollars don't identify it is that it doesn't pay enough to be expert at the extra-ordinarilly difficult classification...possibly they could be of the Family Proctotrupidae, but I believe I see veins in the wings in your speciman, which Proct. do not have...
but the good news - they are not a problem for you, they are parasitic in nature and you are observing them entering the holes in order to lay eggs in the larvae of wood feeding insects - - the bad news is that you have wood feeding insect larvae eating your house - very likely powder post beetles - - PPB used to be controlled with persistant insecticides such as Chlordane or DDT - no langer availible, borax at 10 pounds to 100 gallons of water containing 4 ounces of sodium lauryl sulfate sprayed on the surface is effective - - finishing surfaces with varnish or paint is effective in preventing egg laying, but will not destroy any insects present -
articcat - indeed, Ichneuman wasp - harmless, but really impressive, eh?
Hi Dave,
Thanks for the info. Yes - they do have veins on the wings. Strange thing is that I see no evidence of any other insect in the walls. I'll take your advice and explore the use of a borate and sodium lauryl sulfate. The fact that they are only at the east and north walls (cooler and damper) fits with your diagnosis.
Thanks!
Gee Mr.Wizarrd..I got a few gazillion of them little waspies too..going in the old PP beetle holes..but my logs are a LOT older than his 16 yr. old logs.
Howz the apples doin?
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations.
The Honeycrisp are in and delectable.
yes - Honeycrisp - it was released the same year I started planting this orchard - - if this orchard was about 75% Honeycrisp, I would look like a genious and be making money growing fruit - oh well - hindsight and all that - - 20 new varieties come out each year, 1 year in 20 there is one that's worth something - - I did plant 20 trees of it in the third year of planting (1991) - I've since propagated/topworked 50 more - I should have a thousand...
Sphere - I will be so glad to see this payroll thing end in a couple of weeks - people get slower every year - - I am so tired of slow, undependable seasonal 'help' - grrr... about 85% done with harvest - - a good fall day today, sales have been busy, gotta get 20 bushel ready for a church apple dumpling thing by 4 PM - they just called last night - oughta charge a premium for service...same old same old - - "there's enough for everyone"
Supposed to be a Honeycrisp cousin being made available next year that is not so tempermental.
Temper mental. Hmmm...Is that like some posters.
gotta say that I don't find it particularly difficult to grow - its quirks are modest compared to some of these oddballs I grow - - we had the breeder present at the 'Midwest Apple Improvement Association', november 2002 - he says that about 5% of the crosses exhibit the 'crunch' factor that is the variety's extraordinary feature - - MAIA has about 10000 crosses in the ground - the rule thumb is 'one selection per 10K seedlings' - so, we have one superior selection in those 10K seedlings, but only a 5% chance of it having the crunch.... a real numbers game played out over many years - only thing I know that requires more patience is nut breeding..."there's enough for everyone"