[fruitagal]

I have a honey locust in my yard which I noticed today is getting eaten by something! I have holes in the trunk and branchs, and lots of "sawdust" looking stuff on the ground and all over the crooks of the tree where it must land. I don't see any bugs when I look. What could it be?!

 

[hortman]

Hello fruitagal. Ken here with The Home Depot in the Chicago area. I’m sorry to hear
about your honey locust. It sounds like you have honey locust borers. They are usually
a secondary pest resulting from a tree that is stressed, injured, or dying. Is your tree
stressed from recent transplanting, drought, or mechanical injury from mowers or string
trimmers? The best way to avoid borers is to keep the tree healthy. Here is a link to the
Morton Arboretum website on borers which has great information on symptoms, life-cycle,
and control. Good luck and keep me posted on your tree.


http://www.mortonarb.org/tree-plant-advice/article/753/borers.html

 

[PAbugman]

The borer advice sounds good. Also consider carpenter ants-they get into live trees as well as dead.