What is this and how do I kill it?

[Bill Barrett]

It looks like a ant larva, carpenter? I have them too. I'm in Illinois, I've been seeing them for some time.
We cut a honey locust down last weekend and this was the first time we found ant colony with the grub looking critters, I would guess they're larva. There is a group of 5 or 6 locust trees dead. I found some in other trees they are the way through, locust they only get little past the bark.
I'm going to talk to USDA office, I'll let you know. Or if you find out anything I sure would like to hear from you.

 

[Ronbo]

As big as it is, I would at least use a .22

Ron

 

[ScottOkla]

Here are some helpful links:

Entomology and Plant Pathology - OSU

http://osuextra.okstate.edu/pdfs/F-7315web.pdf

I hope these links work. They show and discuss some common borers in Oklahoma.

I want to emphasize that healthy, striving, established trees are very seldom hurt by these (pecan at least), so I would not be too concerned with them unless I was a hungry woodpecker.

On the other hand, they make a mess of firewood in our area, and the bugs are crawling all over if I wait until late spring or early summer to split the logs.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

I have the same exact grub here I've seen in dead post oak trees. I think our local extension guy had written something about it maybe 2 years ago. I maybe 100% wrong but it seems like he may have called it something like a "Japanese whatever". We have at least 100 or more post oaks on our 26 acres and I'd say that about 3-5 die per year.

I'll dig into my old files to see if I saved the article.

 

[TNhobbyfarmer]

The two dead trees are honey locust.

Send me a sack full of those critters if they kill honey locusts. I hate those thorny things, and they volunteer up everywhere on my farm.

 

[Bill Barrett]

Send me a sack full of those critters if they kill honey locusts. I hate those thorny things, and they volunteer up everywhere on my farm.

Bad thing is they get in the other tress too. Honey locust is one of the best fire wood there is.

 

[WTA]

We are using it all for firewood now. It does burn good. Even the halfway green stuff. I'm going to need to clean my chimney soon though I'll bet.

I found out they were locust borers. I got a reply from a nursery here about it.

This thing is way bigger than carpenter ant larvea. It's as big as my finger! I thought about lining them up on my rifle backstop out back and having some machine gun target practice myself. We're supposed to be getting another full auto M14 in this week or next to work on so this will be a perfect break in for it when I am done.

 

[Sigarms]

We're supposed to be getting another full auto M14 in this week or next to work on so this will be a perfect break in for it when I am done.

If you can control an M-14 on full auto in the standing position, you're a better man than myself

 

[ToadHill]

Could have saved a trip to the nursery and trusted our friendly retired arborist.

 

[turnkey4099]

We are using it all for firewood now. It does burn good. Even the halfway green stuff. I'm going to need to clean my chimney soon though I'll bet.

I found out they were locust borers. I got a reply from a nursery here about it.

This thing is way bigger than carpenter ant larvea. It's as big as my finger! I thought about lining them up on my rifle backstop out back and having some machine gun target practice myself. We're supposed to be getting another full auto M14 in this week or next to work on so this will be a perfect break in for it when I am done.

They have hit in this area a few years ago. At the rate they are going, there won't be any locusts left. My brother had 5 (maybe 6) huge old ones, all gone last summer.

Dunne about the M14. I have a lot of respect for any critter than can chew up Black Locust. Maybe an M2...A bomb?

Harry K