Boring insect

[quaman58]

Hey, all, I had a friend of mine who’s been on Palm talk occasionally over the years send me this picture. He’s in the coastal San Diego area, and I’ve never seen anything quite like it. Unfortunately, I’m getting accustomed to the damage that South American palm weevils can cause, as well as other diseases and such. But this one’s new to me. Any thoughts?

 

 

 

[SeanK]

Not even a woodpecker. They tend to walk the circumference at a particular height as they search.

[Mazat]

9 hours ago, quaman58 said:

Hey, all, I had a friend of mine who’s been on Palm talk occasionally over the years send me this picture. He’s in the coastal San Diego area, and I’ve never seen anything quite like it. Unfortunately, I’m getting accustomed to the damage that South American palm weevils can cause, as well as other diseases and such. But this one’s new to me. Any thoughts?

 

 

 

it does look like a bird. in my opinion, it takes a strong beak to leave this kind of damage/holes.
the question is simply, what did this animal want to get out of the wood, what food?
you would have to protect the trunk somehow.
also it looks like a structure from the behavior and birds are very intelligent, in this case of course it is bad for the plant 🤔😟

[Harry’s Palms]

I would keep an eye on it . Watch the crown for any health issues . Check with a local palm nursery in the area to see if there is any knowledge . I live north of there and have never seen that . Harry

[Merlyn]

I'd check the trunk for any signs of softness or bug infestation.  I remember reading about palms with termites or carpenter ants just suddenly falling over.  Termites and carpenter ants both try to not break the surface of whatever piece of wood they are eating.  Maybe a woodpecker can sense them under the surface and thus isn't making a regular pattern of holes?

Around here woodpeckers always went after my Queen palms.  However, they never went after the trunk.  The old boots always had some ant nests or bugs in them, so the woodpeckers would just jump from boot to boot, eating whatever they could grab.

[Harry’s Palms]

5 minutes ago, Merlyn said:

I'd check the trunk for any signs of softness or bug infestation.  I remember reading about palms with termites or carpenter ants just suddenly falling over.  Termites and carpenter ants both try to not break the surface of whatever piece of wood they are eating.  Maybe a woodpecker can sense them under the surface and thus isn't making a regular pattern of holes?

Around here woodpeckers always went after my Queen palms.  However, they never went after the trunk.  The old boots always had some ant nests or bugs in them, so the woodpeckers would just jump from boot to boot, eating whatever they could grab.

Yep , same here . Tap , tap , tap on the leaf bases of the Syagrus , also my big Washingtonia. Harry

[Looking Glass]

Ambrosia Beetle or Shot Hole Borer type insects, though I’m not familiar with California specific issues.  

[Fusca]

Perhaps not the most interesting insect but I wouldn't call it boring!  😆

Hopefully he can find out what it is and get rid of it.

[Tracy]

15 hours ago, quaman58 said:

Hey, all, I had a friend of mine who’s been on Palm talk occasionally over the years send me this picture. He’s in the coastal San Diego area, and I’ve never seen anything quite like it. Unfortunately, I’m getting accustomed to the damage that South American palm weevils can cause, as well as other diseases and such. But this one’s new to me. Any thoughts?

 

 

 

15 hours ago, quaman58 said:

Hey, all, I had a friend of mine who’s been on Palm talk occasionally over the years send me this picture. He’s in the coastal San Diego area, and I’ve never seen anything quite like it. Unfortunately, I’m getting accustomed to the damage that South American palm weevils can cause, as well as other diseases and such. But this one’s new to me. Any thoughts?

 

 

 

Brett, I have not seen that on any palms up here in the North County coast either.   Keep us posted if any additional damage ensues, or if these start showing up on other palms.

[quaman58]

Thanks for the replies, all. It's specifically in Cardiff. The oozing sap certainly seems to indicate something deeper than bird wounds. Yay us..

[Silas_Sancona]

22 hours ago, quaman58 said:

Hey, all, I had a friend of mine who’s been on Palm talk occasionally over the years send me this picture. He’s in the coastal San Diego area, and I’ve never seen anything quite like it. Unfortunately, I’m getting accustomed to the damage that South American palm weevils can cause, as well as other diseases and such. But this one’s new to me. Any thoughts?

 

 

 

This article from Hodel might point to the culprit..  

https://ucanr.edu/sites/default/files/2017-02/255716.pdf

[quaman58]

Nice job digging that up!!

[Silas_Sancona]

11 minutes ago, quaman58 said:

Nice job digging that up!!

  ...Figured i'd take a crack at this to see if i could turn up anything useful.. 

..I looked at the picture and thought " If it were Woodpecker / Flicker/ Sapsucker holes, They'd be arranged more uniformly, vs. arranged in a more random pattern " Most of the same Woodpeckers we see around here occur out there as well..


Two random net searches,  #1: " Palm trunk Borers  ( There is a large sized species that attacks Washingtonia native to the region < Giant Palm Borer > )  ..and #2:  " Shot Hole Borer Palm trunks " ( ..Just to see if i might get a hit ) which turned up the article / PDF.. 

If it is those dang things, it might be something Don might want info on ( ..If the species of Palm attacked is different from the listed susceptible sps. ) 

...And people wonder why any love for invasive species isn't high on my list, lol..