A password is needed to look at your pictures. Anyway, let's hope it's not asian longhorned beetle!

I get a password dialog when clicking on your link (Picture). Anyway, maybe try Pennsylvania Cooperative Extension. They should be able to tell you what it is and what to do about it. They should also be kept informed of local pest bug activity anyway, so that something new to the area may receive attention from them.

Pictures are now available.

Craig

you said its trimmed often due to its location ...

shall we presume it is a threat to you.. your house.. or your family????

if so ... one final pruning.. at or about ground level.. with malice and aforethought is recommended by me... be done with it ...

the bug.. i am no expert... but that is what i call a millipede or centipede ... in my world .. they live in rotting wood.. they are not the cause of the rotting wood ...

ken

Something similar to a centipede. I wonder if your tree has holes drilled by a yellow bellied sapsucker. The holes then enable insects to become active and the woodpecker returns to find food. Are there rows of holes?

Here is a link that might be useful: sapsucker damage

In response to Ken's message. Your tone seems more arrogant than helpful. The tree is located under power lines. Yes, I could remove it, however it was planted by my deceased father and I would like to keep it. Moving the power lines is not an option.

Carol, I have included another picture that showes that it was some kind of wood boring insect. It doesn't seem to be a woodpecker. I get the impression that maybe the millipede was not the initial occupant of the tree and perhaps some type of beetle bored into this tree and the other unpruned tree.

http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/4063897#236768504-A-LB

Here is a link that might be useful: Maple tree

You tell me you have wood-boring insects in your tree.

My first recommendation is to remove the tree, or otherwise plan on replacing it in the near future.

My second recommendation is to call an arborist or go to your local extension agent, not the internet.

Of course your tree is "special" to you...they all are, and I deal with more of these a week than I care to admit.

That still doesn't change the fact that my first recommendation is to remove the tree. The more data you provide, the more this is reinforced.

My best advice is to call a local person to come evaluate it. Do not call around until you find someone who tells you what you want to hear, although I suspect you will.

I was hoping there would be some kind of insecticide to rid the tree of the insects.

It seems removal is the only real treatment. The more I look the more bore holes I find in the trunk. I will remove this tree and have someone look at the other tree with the declining crown. IÂm concerned that I may lose all of them.

Thanks again for your feedback.

I would try the county extension agent. They can review your findings and give advice.

Here is a link that might be useful: Penn State County Extension Agent

Thanks again Carol,

I found a little black beetle in one of the bore holes. ItÂs only about a 1/4 inch long and has a tiny white spot on its back. I also found several white larvae as well.

I will contact the local extension with what I have found so far. Thanks for the advice.

Have a great New Year

Sledge, I can tell that you are new around here. I'm not sure why you thought Ken's response was rude; it didn't seem that way to me. But, believe me, he certainly didn't mean to come across that way! Ken does have a unique way of posting, but he's not mean! He always tries to help and is frequently pretty humorous.

Try to save any insects you find in a sealed bag or container. If it is an exotic insect like Asian Longhorned Beetle, the proper authorities need to know so they can try to prevent them from spreading. If your trees produce any seed you might could plant those, that way you would have new seedlings after the parent tree is gone.

If these trees have been topped repeatedly for years that may have been the original cause of problems, resulting decline paving the way for bugs and fungi. Maples are also prone to fungal or bacterial dieback problems even without being wounded frequently and forced to re-sprout (stored nutrients are used to grow new tops, diminishing the energy levels in the tree).

I still can't see the picture. Oh well!

Craig,

I seem to have a similar infestation as that which you described in your original posting on this GardenWeb site back in December. My front yard has a single large 36"+ diam. red oak right smack in the middle of it and it is the centerpiece of the yard, not to mention that it's also, by far, the largest tree in my entire yard. The symptoms I am noticing sound very much like the ones you were describing, and they are slowly spreading.

Did you get that beetle looked at that you found? ..or did you find any treatment, rather than felling, for the problem? I have several messages with pictures submitted to arborists, the forestry service, and the ISA. While I am awaiting responses, I have been looking over symptomologies on numerous sites and am fairly convinced that I have Ambrosia Beetles.. possibly Asian. Chances are that the beetle you found in your maple is different than the ones that bore oaks, but according to many of the pro's, they, like most beetles, may be treatable with chlorpyrifos.

Incidently, after reading that entire forum, I feel compelled to mention that, without regard to others' defensive remarks in this little group, a couple of the responses that you were given (namely heptacodium and ken) were nothing less than downright rude, sarcastic and callous. You were only trying to save your tree... and if you werent able to do so, then the advice of trying to save seed (by alabamatreehugger) was the only thoughtful response in the bunch.

Hope to hear from you! :)

~Adam

I have a picture of what I found burrowing into my tree branches. It has taken whole areas at a time leaving fine saw dust underneath the bark. Keep the tree? Insecticide? I have an identical tree adjacent to it that appears ok for now. Can I do something to save it?

The pic doesn't seem to have loaded. It's a creamy colored slug looking thing that barely moves at all. It's about 1/4 of an inch long.

does it have a larger head compared to the body?

I see no photos anywhere in this thread. Are they opening for some of us?

Sledge et al, please do not now nor ever "treat" a problem which you have not identified. Hoseman above gives a great overview of the usual situation with most borers-they are opportunists who prey on declining trees. To treat for such insects would be madness, not to mention ignorant.

Then somebody-I'm getting confused who's who in this thread-says they think they have ambrosia beetles, "possibly Asian". None of this makes any sense. The Asian longhorned beetle......let's just say, you'd probably know if you had that insect in your tree(s). It is a very large beetle with a very striking appearance. There are less troublesome native wood-boring beetles with a somewhat similar appearance, but put side by side, the differences are obvious. But Asian longhorned beetle is not something one would casually mention in passing. The confirmed presence of that hugely worrisome insect would mobilize the resources of your state-I should think. Please don't play guessing games with what is, after all, highly specialized knowledge. The recommendations to enlist the help of your county extension agent (if your state hasn't destroyed their budget yet) is the only sensible advice showing up in this thread to date.

I believe the secondary poster, Susan, is having trouble with uploading photos from a cell. I do on this site and really just this site. It is a Houzz/Gardenweb issue. Susan, if that is the issue, try a different browser on your phone. That worked for me.

you should also start your own post.. as this has little to do with a 9 year old post

we need to know where you are... what the tree is ... location of the tree regarding structures... as well as size ...

pic of whole tree... injury and bug ...

the issue is going to be internal damage.. more than the bug itself ...

ken