Any idea what is in my firewood? -pictures-

[Lincoln Myers]

We have had a few pieces of un-burned firewood in our fireplace leftover from the winter for 'decorative' purposes. My wife noticed (and heard) these little mounds of sawdust showing up recently.

Any ideas what may be causing this?

Thanks for any input.

-Linc

[Eric Gustafson]

We have had a few pieces of un-burned firewood in our fireplace leftover from the winter for 'decorative' purposes. My wife noticed (and heard) these little mounds of sawdust showing up recently.

Any ideas what may be causing this?

Thanks for any input.

-Linc

It looks like powder post beetle frass (excrement.) Get it out of the house!

[Wes Terry]

I agree. It's some kind of borer beetle. Get the firewood out of the house or soon your framing will have a similar appearance.

Wes Terry

[Lincoln Myers]

I took that wood out right away this morning. Anything else we should do with it? Or to the fireplace to protect from them spreading?

-Linc

[David DeCristoforo]

http://www.daviddecristoforo.com/Misc/bug_animated.gif

[John Keeton]

David, if you can email that file it would be most appreciated!! Loved it!

[Lincoln Myers]

David, if you can email that file it would be most appreciated!! Loved it!

Right-click on it and "Save picture as". It's an animated GIF.

-Linc

[Eric Gustafson]

I took that wood out right away this morning. Anything else we should do with it? Or to the fireplace to protect from them spreading?
-Linc

As long as you remove the wood, you should be ok. Most people bring infected wood or wood products into the home, discover the frass, get rid of the material, and that is the end of that. The beetles lay their eggs on wood as it is curing, while the moisture content is still high. Home infestations are more rare, since they do not attack dry wood or any wood that is painted. If you have a damp crawl space, you might want to inspect it from time to time.

Google "powder post beetle" and you will find more than you ever wanted! ;)

[John Keeton]

Right-click on it and "Save picture as". It's an animated GIF.

-Linc
By golly you are right! Thanks. I do that with jpegs, but just didn't think about the animated GIF.

[Craig D Peltier]

http://www.daviddecristoforo.com/Misc/bug_animated.gif

Yo fujitso, that cracked me up.I immediatley thought there was a bug on my screen which I thought was a weird coincidence since we were talking about them.:p

[Reed Wells]

Ha, I did the same thing. Never could squish that little devil on the screen.

[Chris Padilla]

How about lighting a fire? I think that would take care of them! :D

[Richard M. Wolfe]

It's a borer, but much too large to be powder post. They have emerged and are around somewhere. No worry about them attacking any other wood as they only bore into green wood.

[Pete Bradley]

It's a borer, but much too large to be powder post. They have emerged and are around somewhere. No worry about them attacking any other wood as they only bore into green wood.
Not so sure about that. We get the ones you can hear also, but only in dead wood.

Pete