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| Unverified | KylieWaldon | 29 Aug 2025 |
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these gum trees were not looking too well. But they did have these all up the trunk to about 3M. Borers? what are borers? some kind of grub of a moth? not sure!
7 comments
30 Aug 2025
TY WendyEM never thought of that. I've kind of heard about borers all my life but never asked - what are they when they are not borers!
30 Aug 2025
Let me 1st say I am not an expert. The best know woodboring beetles (larva) are longhorn beetles (Cerambycidae). There are others. One distinguishing feature is what part of the tree they bore in - heartwood, bark. Or if they bore in dead/fallen/cut wood. Your borers appear to be living in the surface of the bark.
There are various wood borer larvae (non-native) that scare house/furniture owners - a particularly entertaining one is the Death Watch Beetle (websearch it) the other alarming one is Lynctis beetle (subfamily Lyctinae). Sadly by looking at these we will be haunted by ads from pest controllers - IGNORE THEM ... only look at scientific sites for information!
Hopefully someone with better knowledge can isentify if they are beetle, moth or other larvae.
There are various wood borer larvae (non-native) that scare house/furniture owners - a particularly entertaining one is the Death Watch Beetle (websearch it) the other alarming one is Lynctis beetle (subfamily Lyctinae). Sadly by looking at these we will be haunted by ads from pest controllers - IGNORE THEM ... only look at scientific sites for information!
Hopefully someone with better knowledge can isentify if they are beetle, moth or other larvae.
31 Aug 2025
@KylieWaldon : can you start lightly lifting bark and see if you can find any live larvae underneath, that you could take into protective custody to rear to get an adult?
31 Aug 2025
In these cases the outer bark was missing. These tracks were in the ?heartwood. There was nothing to lift up. THe tracks were very hard. They went from about 1M off the ground up to about 3M off the ground - but no further. I don't know if that helps or not. <3
31 Aug 2025
That is still the bark or adjacent layer. Heartwood is the wood at the centre of a cross section of a tree/branch. I believe there are borers adapted to live in all the layers of a living or dead tree/plant. search (without quotes) " layers of a tree diagram australia "
do a picture search on " Cerambycidae larval tunnels " to see what these beetle larvae and some tunnels look like
do a picture search on " Cerambycidae larval tunnels " to see what these beetle larvae and some tunnels look like
5 Sep 2025
Thanks WendyEM! I wasn't sure about that heartwood. Hadn't heard that term before. I will check links and see what I can find. :)
Sighting information
- 50 Abundance
- KylieWaldon Recorded by
- gum tree Associated plant
- 5mm to 12mm Animal size
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