Question
I am seeing insects at base & crawling up bark of tree. Beetle-like black elongated body with red edging on wing covers. this is the second year noticing them but now also seeing clusters of red ovals & tiny tear drop shaped red bugs with black antennae also (babies?). Also they appear to be boring into the roots of the tree that are above ground. Can you tell me what they are and how to get rid of them? Will they do serious damage?  I just lost a large pear tree that was standing beside one of the maples because it suddenly split down the middle. Don't want to lose the maple as well. I have never seen this type of insect before but have not lived in Alabama before.

Answer
I think you have a couple of insects. the ones with red edging sound like a boxelder bug or maple bug. These do not bore into the tree. Boxelder bugs, sometimes called maple bugs, are medium size insects about 1/2" long, dark grey with red markings on their back . These otherwise harmless insects can become an extreme nuisance because of their tendency to congregate in large numbers on houses in the fall. If the congregating bugs gain entry to walls or attics they can become a problem all winter as they find their way into living spaces. Box elder bugs feed principally by sucking juices from the boxelder tree, but are sometimes found on other plants.

They do very little damage to the trees they attack, but at certain times of the year they can become a nuisance.
Boxelder bugs develop by gradual metamorphosis, from egg, to nymph, then to adult.

Web link with picture of boxelder bug. http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/DG0998.html

The damage you describe sounds like a borer. These insects bore into the wood of a maple usually at a wound and can kill small trees. I would spray the area with an insecticide called Merit. This will be absorbed into the bark and wood and kill the borers in the trunk. It will also kill the boxelder bugs. Borers usually attack trees under stress so I would recommend that you fertilize the tree with 10-10-10 fertilize at the rate of 1 lb of fertilizer per inch of trunk diameter scattered around the tree and watered in good. Also if you have not done so mulch around the tree with nor more than 3 inches deep of organic mulch not piled up on the trunk (pine straw is good) This will help hold moisture around the tree roots and protect the trunk from the edger/mower operator getting to close to the trunk.