Question
cedar post
I purchased a load of cedar posts from the Texas hill country last year. I have them stockpiled on my coastal property one hour south of Houston. We have noticed that when we strip the bark back, some type of insect has bored holes into the wood under the bark. There are also trackings like a termite. The wood in that area is now "rotten" and reduced to essentially sawdust. What type of insect could be doing this? Would this be something done while the tree was alive or dead? Did I bring this insect with me or is it something in my area? I have only seen a little mite looking bug (kind of white and little bitty) when I have peeled the bark and found this problem. The bored holes are about the half the size of a #2 pencil, so I didn't think these little "mites" were the culprit. I only have this problem on some of the posts (maybe 1 out of 3 or 4). If we can figure out the bug, what can I do to treat my posts if needed?
AnswerLooks like the galleries of a Cerambycid beetle, longhorn beetle. These will infest cut logs. I would say it was in the posts before you brought them to your location. More then likely the beetle attacked when the trees were cut. The other insect are just feeding on the fungi that is growing under the bark in the galleries of the beetles. You can spray the posts with an insecticide like merit or Onyx and this should control the beetles in the posts. To make sure I would contact the Texas Forest Service and ask one of their Forester to take a look and maybe have them ask the Forest Entomologist to come down and look. The Texas Forest Service has an excellent Forest pest staff and they can ID the insect and advise you what to do.
Here is a web link to their county office contacts and a web link to the Pest Management staff
County
http://texasforestservice.tamu.edu/main/article.aspx?ctrl=13
Pest Management
http://texasforestservice.tamu.edu/main/article.aspx?ctrl=15
