Re: [pestlist] What caused this damage?

bugman22 Thu, 01 Aug 2013 15:28:55 -0700

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Ryan -

What you're observing is extremely ancient Old House Borer damage to the window sill. Over the years, it appears rain has washed away the surface wood and exposed the galleries. Old House Borer should actually be called New House Borer, because they are usually built into a building during construction. Old House Borer attacks softwoods, such as pine. You'll often see this kind of damage in the sapwood of random width flooring in historic houses. You can tell it's OHB because the window sill is pine and by the width of the old galleries. The rain has washed away the frass. The problem is there's actually a New House Borer which attacks Ponderosa Pine out west. So we can't use the name New House Borer for the Old House Borer. Most Old House Borer "infestations" I've seen in historic houses have died out hundreds of years before and are no longer active. I sometimes see active infestations in newly constructed buildings, especially in crawl spaces and attics. Yours is just that; an old inactive "infestation."

Tom Parker

-----Original Message-----
From: Jones, Robert (Ryan) (Ryan) <[email protected]>
To: pestlist <[email protected]>
Cc: Silence, Patricia <[email protected]>; Webster, Matthew <[email protected]>; Walls, Clifford <[email protected]>
Sent: Wed, Jul 31, 2013 11:20 am
Subject: [pestlist] What caused this damage?

Group,

I was presented with the attached image yesterday morning. The windowsill is located on the second floor of a historic building. Subsequent inspection of the sill revealed the following:

Damage was confined to top half of wood – no damage evident on bottom of sill overhanging roof.
The remaining wood is sound - hard as a brick.
Both windows on the east side of the structure were identically affected; windows across the room on the west side show no signs of damage.
No other WDI damage noted during inspection of building.
This building housed an object that was infested with Old house borers last year.

What insect (if any) do you think caused this damage? Because of the size and pattern of the damage, my guess is house borers. Any frass or mud that might have helped with an ID have been washed away by rain.

Thanks in advance,

Ryan Jones

Integrated Pest Management

Specialist

P.O. Box 1776

Williamsburg, VA 23187

(757) 220-7080

[email protected]

Thanks,

Ryan Jones

Integrated Pest Management

Specialist

P.O. Box 1776

Williamsburg, VA 23187

(757) 220-7080

[email protected]

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Re: [pestlist] What caused this damage?

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