Question
I live in central Maryland. I noticed some staining under a limb on the trunk of my maple.  WHen I climbed up to take a closer look I saw that the limb was cracked where it connects to the trunk and about 2/3s of the limb was dead.  When I bent the limb down away from the trunk I saw several worms in the trunk side of the crack, about as big around as dental floss, and about a half inch long.  The worms (or perhaps larvae) were white.  I have not noticed any other insects in or on the tree other than a few ants.  How should I treat the tree to get rid of the worms and properly seal where the limb has cracked away from the trunk?

Answer
Hi there. The worms sound like larvae that arrived as a result of the crack,which has probably been there for a while.A crack can go undetected for a long time but insects can find it quickly and lay eggs inside of it. If 2/3 of the limb is dead it sounds like a candidate for removal.I don't how large this limb is but if you want to save it it will either have to pinned or cabled depending on the angle. If it is grow almost perpendicular to a limb along side of it than you could drill through the 2 and put a piece of all-thread in it and bolt it together. If it is at an angle than it needs to be cabled which would require some special pieces of hardware and some expertise.You may to an arborist if you think saving the limb is worth the expense. Let me know how you make out.  Bill