Something's eating at my pecan

[Eric Gourieux]

I got some pecan from a friend who saved it after it was cut by utility workers adjacent to his property. Now that I've cut and sealed it, I've noticed piles of dust on or next to the wood. I assume the wood is infested with something. Any ideas? Should I be worried about my adjacent bowl blanks?
Eric

201906 201905 201907

[Toney Robertson]

I just dried some pecan lumber and any piece of bark that came off exposed insect tracts. It seemed like they stayed between the bark and wood but there was some minor intrusion into the outer layers of wood.

I have no idea what they were but my advice to you is turn it soon and then let it dry and kill the buggers. After turning, soaking it in DNA will do the trick.

[Cory Norgart]

I ran across something like that not long ago, and they were ants. I would get rid if them asap, you have alot of nice wood there next to it.

[John Keeton]

A couple of trips through the microwave will kill the little buggers, too!!

[David E Keller]

I'd turn or get rid of the pieces that you know are infested then keep an eye on the other blanks on the rack.

[Bill Rogers]

I had some Pecan branches that I was using in my smoker and I found the same piles of sawdust. When I split the pieces I found some fairly extensive tunneling inside of them. This is what the critters turned out to be:

http://www.ento.okstate.edu/ddd/insects/flatheadedborer.htm

[Eric Gourieux]

Thanks for your help, guys. Although the critters may make for interesting voids in the pecan, I don't want my other wood infested. Looks like I'll be doing some rough turning this weekend.

[James Combs]

If it were me I believe I would nuke them or DNA them right away. I would be afraid that if I started turning with them still alive that I might sling shot them from the lathe into other wood. Just my $.02.

[Jim Burr]

I'm with Cory on the wood ants. Another way to save the wood and kill the bugs is to freeze the blank. Just wrap it in plastic or a ziplok and toss it in the deep 6 for a week. This method is on the USDA website for wood preservation too.

[Dennis Simmons]

You can spray these with Ten Guard, you do need to keep these away from your other woods. I had some pecan stored next to some Bradford pear now all of it has these worms and they will destroy wood.

[Dan Hintz]

I wonder if a few hours in a vacuum chamber would kill them...

[Chris Burgess]

I have some of these worms in my Black Walnut andsee the same piles.....They tend to stay right under the bark so maybe you could peel it bacl or just trim it off the blanks and see if you can cut them out then reseal. Unless you want the holes in your work for effect you are going to turn it off anyways. Just my thoughts. Good luck and get it out of there. You have a great set up of wood and dont want to chance it spreading.

[Donny Lawson]

I've tried the microwave on some ants before and it did not seem to bother them that much. The more cycles I went, the more ants came out of the wood. I got it so hot I had to use a glove to get the wood out and the ants were still running all over the inside of the microwave. I finally put the wood outside.

[Curt Fuller]

Looks like powder post beetles to me.
http://www.ca.uky.edu/entomology/entfacts/ef616.asp

[Mike Hollingsworth]

I've found that powder post beetles love my Hickory Stash. They will gobble up the white part but rarely go for the inner darker, much harder part. Super Powder Post Beetles?

[Jim Underwood]

It's some kind of beetle larvae. I was worried that I had a problem with termites, (I never worry about ants- they'll die quick enough) but turns out it was bark beetles. I wound up putting most of my wood outside under a shed.

But then I brought more back in, and I'm sure I've got several infestations going on.. Oh well, guess I'll have to call the pest control guys some day.

[Jim Heikes]

:eek::eek::eek: Now John...............that's just mean!!!!:D:D:D