Warning -- Ambrosia Beetles and/or Shothole Borer Beetles were "emerging" today in central NJ.

  I stepped out onto the deck early this evening to check some fig trees I had put out a few days ago and noticed a few little "flies" slowly flying around the area.  I caught a few, looked closely, and noticed they were the Shothole Borer or Ambrosia Beetles I had discovered over the last few weeks in some bamboo stakes and one of my fig trees.  The beetles seemed to have pretty big wings that the must fold up under their shells.  They don't fly very fast, but they get around OK.
  I gave my trees a good looking over and I couldn't find any sign of beetles on them -- either emerging or trying to get in.
  I discovered that they are probably coming from a nearby firewood pile, or possibly directly from the oak trees that are all around my yard.
  I have read that they become active in April/May.  I don't know if it is just their time to emerge in general, or if the recent rains followed by a nice 70degree day triggered things, but they are definitely active and moving around.

  So, heads up, be warned, and be on the lookout.
Jim

Well, I just made and put out one of the traps described in this link:
trap

I didn't have any 200proof ethanol, so I had to use some gin.  (Sorry Pete ;-)

I don't know if these beetles are active at night, but I'll check the trap in the morning, then again after work.
Jim

Update -- I checked the trap this morning.  It was empty.  (But there also did not seem to be any beetles buzzing around.)  I'll check again early this evening.
I have the trap up on my deck near my figs.  If I don' t get any hits by Saturday morning, I'll probably move the trap over near the firewood pile.

I read that these traps really don't do a great job of luring 100% of the beetles in...they're really just used for monitoring and looking for trends.  So, I don't want to get my hopes up too much.
Jim

I found a few trying to bore into my young grapes.  I sealed the hole with glue and plant on making 8 of these trap tonight.  THis link has a great design how to make the traps.  It is a must for those growing figs.  I only see these beetles when I stake with bamboo.

http://www.walterreeves.com/gardening-q-and-a/asian-ambrosia-beetle-trap/

http://easttexasgardening.tamu.edu/industry/maketrap.html

Dennis,
  Those are two more good links.  Note -- they don' t mention adding a bit of dish washing soap to the water to reduce surface tension, which other beetle trap instructions do.  It makes it easier for the beetles to pass through the water surface and drown.

  A funny aside:  I read the first set of directions and thought "where am I going to find a film canister?"  "Can I use the plastic packaging that the memory card for my digital camera came in???" -- but the recommendation for using a pill bottle is excellent.   I had used a small water bottle, which I crushed up to make even smaller, but a pill bottle is just right.  I used a strip of coffee filter for the wick, and it seemed to work well.  (i.e. it was still "wicking" when I checked it this morning)

  I'm thinking of making my traps out of something a bit more robust -- like maybe quart-size plastic soup containers.  The soda bottle I used really lost its structural integrity as I started cutting all the holes in it, and I think the solo cups might, too.  I was really worried about slicing my finger open.  Maybe the soup containers will hold their shape better.

Jim

they are asian beetles. gin ain't gonna work. try cheap scotch whisky.

Ok, now I'm pissed!

I just surveyed why my 9' tall Tx Everbearing stopped leafing out and dried up!. Guess what it is? Those ftfgibiu576$&@(: beetles! I Gota burn it tomorrow. It is rooting suckers from the roots.

Man I'm pissed!

it seems like we are suddenly noticing large number of borer issues. is it weather related? or we just didn't pay attention before?

Update -- I checked the trap this evening.  It had two ambrosia or shothole borer beetles and one little tiny spider.  So, I'm assuming the trap did work to lure some of these guys in.  The thing is, I checked it in the later afternoon, around 5pm, and I didn't notice anything.  When I just checked it around 8pm, it had 2.  So, maybe these guys prefer early evening to fly around.
Jim

Alan, my TEB is in a container. Only 2/3 of it was dead. The bottom 4 feet up was not affected. Four sucker are popping up now and the tree is growing strong. I sliced it with my chain saw and hit with glue. I will keep it and keep a watchful eye on it. I did buy a replacement one last week. It's larger than mine!

I first noticed the beetles last year going in and out of my newly potted bamboo stakes. I sealed them and wood glue but at that time, I didn't see any on my figs. I need to destroy all of my bamboo.

Sunday morning update -- I didn't move trap to the woodpile since I caught a few near the figs.  I checked it yesterday early evening and didn't see any more in the trap, though there was one buzzing around the area.  I checked the trap this morning, and there were two more buggers in it as well as a couple of other "things."  I couldn't make out if the "things" were other insects (collateral damage) or if they were "tree parts" which have been raining down lately.  I think it was mostly just schmutz from the trees in the yard now that they're breaking bud and leafing out.

So, it looks like the traps are doing something.
I think I'm going to spray a little something on the trees as a deterrent (after it stops raining).
I should make a few more traps and put them out (e.g. near the woodpile, to get the buggers at the source!!)
Jim

Here's an update after another week.
  Over the course of the last week, the 2 traps seemed to get anywhere from 0 to 6 beetles per night, usually 0, 1 or 2.  I didn't check them religiously, but in general there didn't seem to be activity during the day, and the traps would have beetles in the morning, so they're probably most active at night.
  Over most of the week there did not seem to be any activity on my trees themselves.  I have three trees out...one is leafing out, one is breaking bud, and another is doing nothing at all.  (This third tree is one that seems to have dried out over the winter...the roots look good, but tree itself is dry and brittle.)  I also have about 10 or so very small trees (from cuttings grown in 2013) that haven't broken bud and may be dessicated or just taking their sweet time waking up.  I have lots of other trees in the house that I'm afraid to put out because of these beetles!!!!
  Anyway, last Saturday I decided to make a 3rd trap, and I set it right on top of the wood pile that I suspect is a source of these beetles.
  We had A LOT of heavy rain on Saturday afternoon/evening.
  On Sunday morning I woke up and, to my horror, there were a bunch (~20) borer beetles starting to dig holes into one of my trees.  They picked the one that was dried and brittle, not the other trees or the cuttings.  They were easy to spot because most of them were still sticking out of their holes.  In some cases most of their bodies were out, in most cases just their abdomens were sticking out, and in some cases you could look into the hole and see them.  I used a hat pin to stick into the hole to kill them and, where I could, fish out the dead bodies.
  I checked the traps.  The two up near the deck, by the fig trees, had "many tens" of dead beetles in them.  (This is in stark contrast to the 0-2 per night I had been getting).
  The trap I set up near the wood pile had MANY, MANY HUNDREDS (if not more) of beetles in it.  So, either they were coming from elsewhere and were very attracted to the wood pile, or they were coming from the woodpile itself.
  I checked the trees this morning and did not see any more fresh holes on any trees.

  A few observations:
a)  There seems to be a burst of activity after a nice rainfall.  The first time I noticed these guys over a week ago it was the day following a few days of rain.
b)  The traps do seem to be pretty effective at trapping the beetles but not other insects.  I think I've only counted 3 non-beetle insects in these traps over more than a week.
c)   I used gin in one trap and denatured ethyl alcohol from the pharmacy for the other two.   Both seem to work equally well (based on two traps about 6 feet from one another on the deck, same distance from the wood pile).
d)  Although they are not advertised as being very good traps per se, the trap I put on the wood pile did catch a huge number of beetles.  If it is truly only good for monitoring and not for trapping, it is scary how many beetles emerged from the woodpile and flew off to make a home elsewhere.

Jim

I live in north central Ohio and today noticed a very round little hole, about .5mm in one of my figs with fresh saw dust  below it. I think this is too small and I am too north for Ambrosia beetle, but could it be? If it's not, what might it be, and how worried should I be? None of the other figs have this.

Dale,
  .5mm is not too small.  The "Shothole Borer" Ambrosia Beetles I've seen were anywhere from 3.5mm long to less than 1mm, so a small one could have bored that hole.  Stick a pin in there to try to crush it, and then squirt some insecticide in the hole.
  Also, I'm in Zone 6b in central NJ, so 6a isn't that much different.  I've seen these beetles survive our unseasonably cold winter in a 1" diameter dead tree trunk on my back deck -- completely exposed to the weather.
  By the way, they were also swarming in strong numbers yesterday later afternoon and early evening, though apparently not nearly as strongly as they did the day before (the day after the heavy rains).  I made a bunch of new traps and was catching them by the hundreds.  By late evening (9-10pm) the activity had died down.
  I have also noticed that they do go for branches that are quite small, even though the literature says they'll stick to something about 1" in diameter.  I had beetles trying to start holes in branches that were between 1/8" and 1/4".  Again, these Shothole Borers are quite small.
Jim

Alan and Jim thank you. I read that other thread. It's part of what prompted me to ask. I did stick a small probe into that hole and it came back clean, but something bored it and left the saw dust, although no little protrusions from the hole. I guess vigilance is in order for a while.

  I burned all the oak from the woodpile on a bonfire.  The other logs didn't show signs of boreres, but the oak had visible holes on the outside and an occasional beetle when I stripped away some bark.  When I split the oak I could see some tunnels bored into the logs, some with beetles in them still.  Based on what I was seeing (e.g. multiple beetles in the same tunnels, elaborate tunnels, tunnels plugged with sawdust) I don't think these were new holes -- I think these were the next wave of buggers that would be emerging to attack my fig trees!
  I've been having some "Starship Troopers" visions forming in my head as I deal with these buggers ;-)
  I had a couple of redbud trees that I bought at deep, deep discount late last fall -- and I never got them in the ground.  3 out of 4 died over the winter.  Of the 3 that died, 2 had signs of fresh borers.  Redbud is on the list of the ambrosia beetle's favorite foods.  I burned them, too.
  It occurred to me that Hurricane Sandy may have a lot to do with what's going on here.  There are a lot of trees down or stressed out in my area due to Sandy damage, and there's an awful lot of oak that's been sitting around on woodpiles in the area.
Jim

There seemed to be another minor "emergence" yesterday (5/15) -- warm humid day with a touch of rain and very little wind.  These beetles are not very strong flyers, so I think they avoid windy/breezy days.
The traps seemed to be doing their job.  The bigger ones seem to work better at catching beetles than the smaller ones.  The traps made from 2-liter soda bottles or similar smaller containers catch beetles, but the ones made from milk jugs, with large openings cut in the sides, seem to do better.  The beetles are drawn to the trap by the alcohol vapors, but they have to get into the trap for it to be effective.  Once they get into the trap they just seem to fall out of the air and into the water.  Some beetles land on the top outside the milk jug and then fall into the trap through the opening.

The trap by the woodpile was not seeing as much activity -- so perhaps burning the oak helped.  I got the feeling that the beetles we not coming from the other wood on the wood pile, but rather just from the general area.

I've checked my trees every day and things have been slow all week.  However, due to the "emergence" yesterday, I found two new beetles boring into my tree (the stressed-out, dried-out tree that got all the action last time.)  The other trees were good.  I guess the pyrethrum/malathion I sprayed on them last week has worn off enough for some beetles to take a chance on the weak tree.

Jim

I original didn't do a good job of chasing the bores before painting. Found those still inside pushing out "toothpicks" through the dried latex and some dead or dying ones walking on the surface (very easy to spot against the white trunk). Went after remaining borers with a hand drill and a tiny bit slightly bigger than the bore to pull out potential fungi deposited by the borers then latex painted, filling the holes. The wood pulled out was sometimes dark, none of the holes were more than 1/2 inch deep, most were more shallow (I could fee how deep the pilot hole was) Those trees seem fine so far and no new attacks.

I'd found another paper having to do with growing these borers. It was done in glass tubes and they tested for the fungi which wasn't always present just because there is a hole. I'll look for a link to that. Here is the title:

Mary,
  The sawdust residue is from "new" beetles boring new holes into the tree from the outside.  They are pushing the sawdust out through the entrance hole as they dig deeper and deeper.
  This is the time of year when beetles emerge and try to find a new home.  I don't know if some just turn around and burrow into the same tree or if they all fly off and try to find a new home.
  Alan and I have both noticed that the beetles seem very active the day after a heavy rain. Currently in my yard I can go outside during late afternoon/early evening and see them.  They are relatively slow, clumsy flyers and are easy to catch in your hand.  If you're lucky there aren't so many around your yard that you can do this!  I made a couple of the traps describe in the postings (using anything from milk jugs to juice bottles) and caught some, so I new what to look for.
  If your lilacs seem to be in trouble and if there are a lot of them, stand out by your lilacs for a while and you may notice a few flying around.
  In my case, I believe they're emerging from the many oak trees in my yard and then flying around looking for new places to live.  Believe it or not, I think some burrowed into my deck railing!
Jim

This is a very bad news, gave me goose bumps.
I think people should stop exchanging cuttings or plants or buying from eBay or Amazon or anybody altogether for a while, before this becomes a pandemic...or whatever they call in bug world.

I will have to check my lilacs, there are a few close to my HC that had some borers. As far as exchanging plant material, the shot holes are easily spotted, I would be concerned with the fungus after it takes hold. Best solution in my mind is to cut out all wood with borer damage, though perhaps it can be eliminated with some of the ideas others are using. My plant should be o.k. when fresh growth resumes from underground.